bluekappa

[bluekappa]

@salparadiselost they were made for you.

Fun Fact: Oilbirds are Basically BatBirds!

I want to talk about these amazing birds:

I love them. I mean, look at their big, shiny eyes! NO ONE can say that they aren’t cute as hell!

The other reason I love these animals is because they’re basically what happens when evolution tries to make a bat out of a bird.

These little guys are known as oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis), and are also called guácharo (and also several other things, because they are found in South America, plus Trinidad & Tobago, which all have INCREDIBLE language diversity). 

Oilbirds are nocturnal, flying around the forests of South America at night looking for fruit to eat. They also live colonially in caves, which they navigate using echolocation.

So, to review:

(I’m making my Generic Bats a very generic fruit bat, for the record).

Oilbirds are the only birds with this combination of traits, which I think is pretty cool of them! Why are they so much like bats? Basically, when different types of animals evolve under similar selective pressures, they often evolve the same features! This is called convergent evolution, and wow I talk about it a lot on this blog! It turns out that nocturnal animals that live in caves and eat fruit can sometimes benefit from traits like these!

(they’re, like… spooky-cute. Cute-spooky? Either way, I like them a lot)

So, if these birds are flying around at night, how do they stop themselves from flying into things while searching for that tasty, tasty fruit?

Well, in the forest, they mostly rely on their AMAZING night vision (which is another trait they share with bats, fyi). That is why they have such big, adorable eyes, which has a lot of light-sensing cells called rods. They actually hold a record for the density of the rods in their eyes: one million per square millimetre. That is the highest density of any known vertebrate. It’s about 6x denser than the rods found in human eyes! 

…still cute

Their amazing vision allows them to see very well in low light, which is how they navigate the South American jungles at night, searching for food under the moon and stars. That said, their vision just doesn’t cut it when it comes to flying in the caves they call home. Why? Well, caves are dark as hell, and even the best night-vision can’t do anything for you when there’s no light at all. Plus, flying into cave walls/ cliff faces hurts, so it’s good to be extra sure you’re not flying into solid rock!

So how do they find their way around these dark caves? Well, they use something very unusual for birds: echolocation!

Oilbirds are one of only a few species of birds that are known to use echolocation (the others are a few species of  the closely-related swiflets (Collocaliini), but I HAVE DECIDED TODAY IS FOR THE OILBIRDS im sorry, swiflets, ilu2).

Look at them, not flying into rocks! I’m so proud (˃̣̣̥ ◡ ˂̣̣̥)

Also, a bonus fact, because idk where to fit this but I MUST mention it:

They have little whiskers around their beaks (which are technically called “rictal bristles”, but I’m going to call them “whiskers” because I like that word better). These whiskers are basically used to feel things that they have in and around their mouth, helping them find, manipulate, and eat their tasty fruit!

…moustache…

This has been Fun Fact Friday!

[bluekappa]

What’s really under Dazai’s bandages

Tw: self harm scars, scars

#art #fan art #bsd dazai #dazai osamu #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd art #my art #dazai headcanons #bsd fanart

[bluekappa]

Some babies in dresses🥰

#art #fan art #bsd #bungou stray dogs #nakajima atsushi #dazai osamu #bsd dazai #bsd fanart #non-binary Dazai mayhaps👀 #bsd atsushi

[bluekappa]

Me too, Dazai. Me too.

#art #fan art #bsd #bsd fanart #bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #bsd skk #skk #soukoku #nakahara chuuya #chuuya nakahara #dazai x chuuya #chuuya my beloved #my art

[bluekappa]

“He’s gone, Chuuya…”

#art #fan art #bsd #bsd fanart #bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #bsd skk #skk #soukoku #nakahara chuuya #chuuya x dazai #dark era dazai #dark era bsd #oda sakunosuke #odasaku my beloved

[bluekappa]

“Again, again!”

#art #fan art #bsd #bsd fanart #bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #dazai x chuuya #chuuya nakahara #soukoku love child #soukoku fanart #soukoku #skk #bsd skk #married soukoku #bsd ocs #nakahara enju

[bluekappa]

Nakahara Enju and Nakahara (Dazai) Osamu

#art #fan art #skk #bsd skk #soukoku fanart #soukoku #dazai osamu #soukoku love child #bsd fanart #bsd #bsd dazai #bungou stray dogs #dazai x chuuya #married soukoku #bsd ocs #nakahara enju

[bluekappa]

Visiting Odasaku

#art #fan art #skk #bsd skk #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd fanart #chuuya nakahara #dazai osamu #soukoku fanart #soukoku #oda sakunosuke

[bluekappa]

“You left me alone in the dark”

#art #fan art #soukoku #bsd skk #bsd #bsd fanart #dazai osamu #nakahara chuuya #skk #bungou stray dogs #soukoku fanart

[bluekappa]

The space between.

#art #fan art #midoriya izuku #deku fanart #bhna deku #bhna bakugou #deku #bakugou katsuki #MHA #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #pokemon #MHA pokemon au #eevee #umbreon

[bluekappa]

Just a broccoli baby wearing merch

#izuku my baby #midoriya izuku #bnha #bnha art #bnha deku #deku #mha #my hero academia #fan art #art #boku no hero academia

[bluekappa]

Melatonin supplements doesn’t work on me, so I’m convinced that when I sleep it’s from spite and spite alone.

[bluekappa]

First Meeting

#art #fan art #batman #batfamily #robin #dick grayson #nightwing #oracle #barbara gordon #batgirl #bruce wayne #batfamily mermaid au #mermaid au #mermaid #commissioner gordon

[bluekappa]

@sundial-at-night are you implying I’m throwing a tantrum, sister?

Cats relax when you slow blink at them, so whenever I want my cat to relax I do that. Which is fine and all, until I realize I've now started doing it to small children when they're upset or throwing a tantrum.

#this is my batfam

[bluekappa]

A scene from @iwhumpyou’s work “truce”

#art #fan art #batman #batfamily #robin #jason todd #tim drake #red hood #batbros #this is my batfam

[bluekappa]

Afternoon braids.

#art #fan art #batman #batfamily #robin #batgirl #spoiler #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #cass cain #batfamily mermaid au #mermaid au

[bluekappa]

Hi, my name is Christi and I'm with Dice Tower Dungeons, 3D printed dice towers! All of our towers can be printed as dice towers, decorative pieces or even piggy banks!

This is our Ranger Tower.

Check out our website for other items!

#dicetower #dice #rpg #gaming #dnd #tabletop #5e