Friday, May 13, 2011

Flamingo Friday: Two Reactions to the Same Phenomenon



When they aren’t billing each other, putting on courtship displays, preening, feeding, or mating, the flamingos at the zoo are usually sleeping in typical tall-bird style—that is, upright on one leg, all grouped together like a big flock of pink-and-orange popsicles. The sheer number of them engaged in synchronized dozing is pretty impressive, as is their balance: they’re like a whole yard-full of lawn decorations, but with their heads tucked in.



The mother of a family of zoo visitors who passed by the enclosure during a flock-wide nap immediately recognized a photo opportunity. She waved her kids in front of the exhibit, whipped out her camera, and, peering through the viewfinder, ordered, “Okay, everybody on one leg.”

Later, another little group passed by the dozing flamingos and had a different response. A young woman stared at the birds for a moment and exclaimed, “They look like stomachs!”




And, you know, I’d never thought about it before…but they kind of do.

It just goes to show, you can learn something new every day.



{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}

4 comments:

biobabbler said...

1. 1st woman is a GENIUS! Love it. =)
2. It's totally true re: stomachs, and I wouldn't have ever thought of it either.
3. Will I ever stop being blown away by your amazing flamingo shots? That last one--LOVEly.
4. Got caption contest swag yesterday (I just returned from travel) and LOVE it. That gorgeous creature's been staring at me from my desk all day. Here it is in place and better pics are nearby in Flic.kr http://www.flickr.com/photos/biobabbler/5715916961/in/photostream THANKS SO MUCH!!! =)

Anca said...

Great post! Stomachs? It makes me worry because they'd be really inflamed. But I can see the anatomist making such an analogy.

pattinase (abbott) said...

We were at the Detroit Zoo on Tuesday and noticed a little black bird herding the flamingos around. Any idea what it is?

Good Ol' Ant said...

"Big flock of pink-and-orange popsicles" -- that's good. But (you're probably too young to remember; I don't know if they make these anymore) a more fitting description would be a big flock of CREAMSICLES. (Better than stomachs!)

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