Just Put it on my Tab

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Urban shopkeepers have to keep a constant watch for shoplifters, of course. Usually, though, the thieves don’t have wings.

“Sam” the seagull, of Aberdeen, Scotland, has become something of an Internet celebrity because of his daily habit of stealing a bag of Tangy Cheese Doritos from a city shop.

Now, that’s urban ecology. No charges have as yet been filed.

You Think You Can Tell?

From BlueBear, an eloquent post by Agent99 in eulogy of the Dodo (and an appropriately subtle “screw you” to Kipling’s ‘burden’):

Dodos were daffy-looking flightless birds of the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. They were wiped out in the late sixteen hundreds by British sailors…

…An extinct bird, one that may well be the very epitome of undignity, symbolizes extreme dignity, where it is real, where the air is hollow. Untaintable trust is beautiful—even if on a practical level it is ill-advised.

The greatest pretender: Australia’s Superb Lyrebird

Ann at Reclaiming Space is eventually going to get on to me for copping off her blog so much, but this morning I really could not resist: this video is one of the most amazing things you’ll see today, I’d be willing to wager.

The Superb Lyrebird, or menura novaehollandiae, is a large Australian songbird so named because the plumage of the male, when fully displayed, resembles the shape of an ancient Greek harp or lyre. The male has a complex courtship ritual which includes vocal imitations of the sounds of the forest that are nothing short of stunning.

The species, thankfully, is not currently considered threatened. It has been featured on Australia’s 10-cent piece.