For the birds...and Paint Party Friday

Parrot ACEO...boy or girl?

Ever wonder why boy birds are so colorful and pretty and girl birds are sometimes rather drab?   Take cardinals for instance, the males of the species are bright red, the females a drab brown color.  Even a male robin’s red breast is just a bit redder than his mate.  I won’t even go into the American goldfinch male who is bright canary yellow while his significant other is a dull ocher-ish color. 

BOY!

Science says that female birds choose their mates by judging a beauty contest of sorts. Yes, that shallow hussy picks her mate by virtue of his good looks.  She doesn’t care if he has a great personality; she likes the one with the prettiest and brightest colors.  Sounds pretty superficial to me.  So as a result he poor little bird who just didn’t get enough vitamins in his bird seed flies away without a girlfriend. 

BOY!

To be fair to those feathered females, some scientists also think that maybe the color difference may be to protect the female from predators. I mean, if you were a predator wouldn’t you go for the bright red bull’s eye and leave the ugly, brown baby mama alone. I don’t think anyone really knows for sure, but it’s interesting to ponder.

And then there is the case of the parrot.  Male and female are both very, very colorful.  In fact, since their sexual organs are internal, without an invasive medical procedure you won't be able to tell which is which.  So the question is how to do you tell a male parrot from a female parrot. 

Answer:  You ask them…. Parrots can talk right?

For paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com I am showing off my ACEO of a parrot.  Sorry but I don’t know if he is a boy…or a girl. Please go and visit all the wonderful, creative and truly fantastic art from all the other participants.  You’ll be glad you did! As always thanks to Kristin and Eva!