Can birds get fat?

[RoJoHen]

Because they are no closer related to them than any other group of humanity? That one is kind of a no-brainer.

Are you saying Asians are really from another planet?!



(Don't know why this is cracking me up, but it is. )

You're reading that backwards. My point was that Asian animals are no closer related to Asian people than any other peoples and thus wouldn't have any evolutionary reason to share traits with them more than Africans or Europeans.

I might be a worthwhile question when considering animals of the same general species. Like bears. Do panda bears have squintier eyes than, say, brown bears? Granted, evolution works differently for different species, but one might wonder why.

Or maybe, are African animals darker-skinned than North American animals, ya know, under all the fur? Probably not, I would wager.

 

[troisboobs]

Pidgeons in cities are way fatter than they should be, If i see one in nature i'm like shit they are so skinny compared to the city variety! Also I've seen fat house sparrows before, the little brown ones that hang out near restaurants with porches, little chubs!

 

[What's his face]

Are you saying Asians are really from another planet?!



(Don't know why this is cracking me up, but it is. )

You're reading that backwards. My point was that Asian animals are no closer related to Asian people than any other peoples and thus wouldn't have any evolutionary reason to share traits with them more than Africans or Europeans.

I might be a worthwhile question when considering animals of the same general species. Like bears. Do panda bears have squintier eyes than, say, brown bears? Granted, evolution works differently for different species, but one might wonder why.

Or maybe, are African animals darker-skinned than North American animals, ya know, under all the fur? Probably not, I would wager.

That's what I was asking, sort of.

 

[Venardhi]

Even then though, the shape of the eye (aka an epicanthal fold) is a mutation that exists in many children and amongst adults in Africa and several other regions, it has nothing to do with adapting to the specific environment of "Asia", which is pretty damn varied.

 

[melancholymecha]

yes, parrot owners have to be careful with their birds not to overfeed them(like giving them too much people food & sunflower seeds) or they can become overweight just like dogs, cats & people can... I think I read that amazons & cockateils tend to get porky easily.

 

[Strider]

excursive

I'm going to sound like an ass here, but did you mean "exercise"?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

They sure can.

On Sunday mornings during the warm part of the year I read my newspaper and have breakfast at the outdoor seating area of the "Ellsworth Beach" Starbucks here in Silver Spring.

There are a few trees and shrubs near the tables. Sparrows live - or at least hang out - in them.

They gorge themselves on the crumbs of pastries that fall from the outdoor tables or - quite often - are deliberately scattered to them because folks just like to feed birds.

We're talking croissants, pot donuts, coffee cake, cheesecake, double-cake-cake-cake...

The sparrows range from the size and shape of golf balls to nearly the size - and shape - of tennis balls.

I have no idea what the poor dears do when it gets cold.

 

[Jadzia]

By birds I mean the feathered variey.

I was laying awake last night when this question popped into my head for some unexplained reason. I have seen large birds but never a fat bird. I was tempted to get up and research this on the internet.

Does anyone know the answer?

I think it's answered by natural selection. Animals and birds in the wild, whether they are hunters or scavengers, all need their faculties to survive. Fat birds that cannot fly up to the trees to peck the fruit would not eat and would lose weight through starvation or would die.

Also it's unlikely for a natural environment to have such an abundance of food. Typically, the population of birds would grow if the land was so fruitful, which spreads that food around more thinly until it's brought down to a competitive-survival level.

Where there is big surplus of food (like city streets), animals do not need to be fit and are more likely to put on weight. Birds may become too big to fly. But even then, fatter birds use more energy walking around than thin birds. And there is still competition as to which bird is agile enough to run and peck the dropped sandwich first.

So all in all, I would think that the distribution of weight tends to regulate itself.

The only real candidates for debilitating animal obesity are those animals who are largely immobile, which are domesticated or pet animals/birds, who have much food brought to them.

 

[iguana_tonante]

By birds I mean the feathered variey.

For a moment it felt like I've landed on Life on Mars.

And I would strongly advise NOT to search for "fat birds" on the Internet!

 

[RoJoHen]

By birds I mean the feathered variey.

For a moment it felt like I've landed on Life on Mars.

And I would strongly advise NOT to search for "fat birds" on the Internet!

But if I didn't search for it, I never would have found this awesome picture!