Bird News

I've been neglecting the animal kingdom for a while, but I've been saving the news. Here are a couple items that have caught my eye:

Stumpy the Duck:

Photo credit: AP Photo

When this little cutie was hatched, the owner noticed something amiss right away: Stumpy the Duck has four feet, not the usual two. The AP reported the story February 17, 2007.

A rare mutation has left the eight-day-old duckling with two nearly full-sized legs behind the two he runs on. Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles (150 kilometers) southwest of London, unveiled the duckling to reporters on Saturday.

"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four,"' Janaway said.

Stumpy would probably not survive in the wild, but Janaway, who runs the Warrawee Duck Farm in New Forest says he is doing well.

"He's eating and surviving so far and he is running about with those extra legs acting like stabilizers," Janaway said.


Remote-Controlled Pigeon:

Photo credit: 28 Feb 2007 REUTERS/China Daily

This is more in the line of science news, rather than freak show, even though the picture looks freakier than Stumpy.

This was one of the Reuters "Best Pictures from the last 24 hours," with this caption:

A pigeon with micro-electrodes planted in its brain is seen at Shandong Science and Technology University in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province February 27, 2007. Scientists in eastern China say they have succeeded in controlling the flight of pigeons with micro electrodes planted in their brains, state media reported on Tuesday.

An article in Engadget, February 27,2007, has this to say about the experiment:

While chief scientist Su Xuecheng boasts, "It's the first such successful experiment on a pigeon in the world," they were fruitless in the search for any type of practical use, which was, ironically, the group's initiative when moving forward from similar experiments in mice in 2005.

No practical use? I see this as a favorite new toy of young boys, especially boys with younger siblings. They'll keep the pigeon circling their target sibling until the bird lets the droppings fly. Great for hours of fun! The scientists should start talks with Mattel before another Christmas season goes by.