Planet Rothschildi

[Tame Emu Guy]

Could this be the first foray of mating-season? Or at least ‘pre-mating-season’? Felicity has finally finally got a consort. Is she trying to get a headstart on staking out territory?

She and Felix could be down at Meadow One. It’s a good pasture, and there’s no bird down there that she can’t drive off.

But here . . . she isn’t gonna get a single plum or apricot, and she knows it. Why bother then? It’s gotta be territorial.

Supreme Emu

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Wheeeee!!!!
Got eight birds in orbit at this second. Speckles and Sarah and an adult in their company are in the clearing.



Got coffee (me, not the emus); got burrs in my socks; got my clothes rotting in the laundry sink -- but where is Eric Plus??

Just a second ago, while standing in the carport, I could see S. and S. and Other on one side of the clearing, and Eric Plus hard by, under the apricot tree -- but Eric Plus have gone!!?

Let's go check!

Ahh!!! Eric Plus have made a strategic withdrawl. Now, Supreme Emu gotta take stock. I just found out that there are ripe apricots on the tree (no wonder Eric Plus have hardly moved from beneath it for days!!) A bobtail nearly frightened me to death. I can still hear faint emu calls.

Will check in later.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Explaining Ignominious Withdrawal to The Kids 101​

Evil Knee-High One: ‘Oh, Dad! I can hear an emu coming! Gee, now we have Felicity and Felix and Unknown Bird One to beat up! What fun!!’

E.K.-H. Two: ‘Yep, and I’m gonna lead the charge . . . with my Dad right behind me . . .’

E.K.-H.O.: ‘Oh, there’s another one!! Cool – four adult emus now!!

E.K.-H.T.: ‘No, I see a fifth. Way to go!! Six hundred pounds of muscular wild emu to confront and humiliate and drive from the clearing!! Go, us!!’

[Speckles and Sarah and Third Bird have now entered the house-clearing, and started grazing on Eric Plus’s pasture. Felicity and Felix are audible in the scrub nearby.]

Eric: ‘Oh, yes. Five adult birds!!

Great!!

Wait – wouldn’t it be nice to go for a swim sometime . . . now?

Right now?’

E.K.-H.T.: ‘You’re . . . you’re not afraid are you, Dad?’

Eric: ‘Oh no! Not at all!! Five adult birds? No problemo . . . but I’m sure I left the iron on. I feel itchy. I need a swim – oh, look: isn’t the sunshine over there, the way the light falls on that gum leaf there, no, not that gum leaf, the one next to it, isn’t that delightful. Let’s go look closely at it.’

E.K.-H.O.: ‘Awwww, Dad. I want to beat up the emus!!’

Eric [getting exasperated]: ‘No, you don’t! You want a swim. You want to delight in the way the sunlight falls on the gum leaf. Now be quiet and follow me. Quickly . . .’

[Eric Plus hurriedly exit.]

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

‘Clearly, sex-role-reversal polyandry represents for the successful female the fulfilment of an evolutionary dream. She wins the battle of the sexes by passing on her genes to far more clutches of young than she could rear, alone or with one male’s help. She can utilise nearly her full egg-laying potential, limited only by her ability to defeat other females in the quest for males willing to take over parental care. . . .

‘The explanation depends on shorebirds’ unusual reproductive biology. They lay only four eggs at a time, and the young are pre-cocial, meaning that they hatch already covered with down, with their eyes open, and able to run and find food for themselves. The parent doesn’t have to feed the chicks but only to protect them and keep them warm. That’s something a single parent can handle.’

‘ . . . the distinctive features of shorebird biology – especially their precocial young, clutches of few but large eggs, ground-nesting habits, and severe losses from predation – predispose them to uniparental care and female emancipation or desertion.’

Why Is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality, Jared Diamond​

Well, the fit is not perfect. Emus aren’t shorebirds. They nest on the ground because they are flightless. The number of eggs laid is much larger. Clearly, though, the dynamic described by Diamond should be food for thought for us. (The entire passage, which outlines several major modes of male-female biological investment in reproduction, is worth reading.)

[And Jacanas, Spotted Sandpipers and Wilson’s Phalaropes are other bird species in which the male parents.]

S.E.

 

[kbgh]

Quote: Ripe apricots, now we know why Eric Plus hang around. They are protecting their food source. As you have said things, ie grasses, are drying up, but what beeter food tha the apricots. Eric knows what he likes and is imprinting on the chicks that this is a good food and right in their back yard, but he is also making sure they realize they need to protect their food.

 

[kbgh]

Quote: S.E. are you scared by a lil ole lizard?

 

[Ashburnham]

I had to look up "bobtail" to know what you were talking about! lol
They are always called stumpy tails around here.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Hey, Ashburnham! I’ve picked up a few new words over here. ‘Bobtail’ is one. The locals always mention the first sighting of a bobtail in spring because it means the snakes are also out.

They also use the word ‘bungarra’ instead of ‘goanna.’

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Morning, K.B.!

The human mind, it clearly seems, tends to ‘binaristic function.' That is, it's fast and (ultimately) efficient to categorise things as 'A' or 'B' rather than 'A' or 'B' or 'Maybe 'C' if Fred will loan me his lawnmower' or ' 'D' on Tuesday afternoons.'

Well, K.B., bobtails are scaly reptiles with shiny skin. When you see a patch of shiny scales in the grass at your feet, your mind shouts out, ‘SNAKE!!’ and you worry about the details later.

Yup, I almost collapsed in fright.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Eric lost a Parenting Point this morning. It seems that his share of a teacup of wheat is enough to make him ignore the piteous cries of one of his chicks (who’d got ‘lost’ in the backyard).

I noticed that one of the aisles behind the fig tree is full of old roosts. The ‘roost blessings’ are plain to me now. It’s amazing what you can see once you have figured out what you are looking at!

Best of all, readers: Felicity was here early, and got wheat and sultanas in the gums. I didn’t see or hear Felix. (I’ve decided I like Felix. He really is wearing the wrong size suit.) Then, about a half an hour later, F. and F. forayed into the clearing. Felicity got more wheat and sultanas, and Felix came closer than ever before. He almost got a bit of wheat.

F. and F. are clearly ‘in orbit’ at present, and we shall observe with interest the machinations of it all. Is Felicity just after a bit of wheat? Or is there a territorial aspect to it? Hard to tell.

We’ll watch to see if F. and F. simply eat and leave, or if they/she tries her luck.

S.E.