EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Each week a different image of our fascinating environment is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional ecologist.

30 August - 5 September 2010

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Pigeon Speckled and Displaying

Speckled Pigeon (Columba g. guinea)
Thomson's Falls, Kenya

Credit & Copyright: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot

Explanation:  This striking pigeon -- a common resident of central Africa -- sports a red skin patch around its golden yellow eyes, and triangular speckles of white on the wing.  

But also look at the breast feathers in these two photos.  Is this a territorial display?  Or a mate-attraction display?  

Or does it serve some other function?  

Perhaps extending the breast feathers in this manner can help cool the body by allowing air to better flow over the skin beneath.  Such a function would be termed behavioral thermoregulation.

Or perhaps this behavior serves several such functions!  

Sometimes a behavior, or anatomical feature, evolves for one function but then serves others as well, in which case it may be selected for even more quickly.  

 

   

Next week's picture:  Oddities of the Ridged Frog


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