Thanks Bob.
That description on behaviour will be a valuable addition to the page
for cormorants on Wikipedia!
Henk
Op 2020-08-12 om 13:52 schreef Bob Pdml:
On 12 Aug 2020, at 12:37, Henk Terhell <hterh...@chello.nl> wrote:
Walking to the pool nearby some days ago I saw this bird when it was only a
few meters away from me.
It looked at my camera outfit (Pentax K-1) and paid no further attention to me
while I took some shots.
There must be some explanation for its quiet behaviour.
https://flic.kr/p/2jtuZrR
Beautiful plumage!
Cormorants can spell (in the Roman alphabet only) using their highly sensitive
sense of smell.
Evolutionary biologists think this strange capability has arisen through sexual
selection, but that’s just their way of saying “fucked if I know”.
When the colossally enlarged olfactory gland of a mature cormorant detects
certain combinations of letters - they don’t have to be actual words in a known
language, that would be preposterous - it triggers a release of endorphins that
flood the brain with feelings of bonhomie towards the nearest living creature.
This can go wrong sometimes and lead to unwanted attention of a sexual nature,
but mostly it works ok.
Anyway, the letter sequence ‘Pentax’ (Not case-sensitive, surprisingly) is one
such endorphin trigger, but for God’s sake don’t your back on the creature.
--
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