#ooc

So, well, they're as related as cows or pigs.

Okay, that's fair. 🙂

We just don't usually think of canaries as carnivorous.

Nobody thinks a falcon is a cannibal.

Okay, yeah. Good point. I am no longer nauseated. 🙂

AND I can point that out to the kids when they (inevitably) comment on it.

FWIW: both are aves, turkeys are Galliformes and canaries are Passeriformes

chuckle WAYYYY beyond my scope.

.... halp...

now I'm trying to find out the relative evolutions of passerines vs galliformes

passerines are quite diverse, and make up ~60% of bird species, and I think might be older?

Oh, you succumbed to the Google rabbit hole.

I did

anyways, the common ancestor between them is likely more than 66 million years ago

That's sufficiently distant cousins.

humans and chimps last common ancestor was between early as 13 and late as 4 million years back

BRB...forgot to post a thing.

I am SO sorry

but I am entertained by the rabbit hole!

Ha! Been there.

....

fowl-types and poultry-types are, apparently, quite truthfully odd ducks wrt bird species!

We have three big groups

Yah?

big flightless dinobirds (ostriches, etc), "neoaves" (passerines, songbirds, MOST birds) and our galliformes (fowl) and anseriformes (ducks and relatives)

Neat!

Off topic:

hee

Passeriforms are over 10k species, so it's a whoooollllllleeeeeeeee thing to have ni picture

ducks have ~200 species, chickens have ~300

Geez. But...but birds aren't real, right?

hee

anyways

Woodstock can totally eat turkey

Research Approved!

woodstock bird

I think grey momma cat MIGHT be getting interested in human company. Just a little.

We still can't come anywhere close to touching her, but...she's coming closer.

I think I need to get a feather wand for her, some kind of toy-with-long-reach.

progress!

Annnnd I've gotta start winding down.

Need to get through the pre-holiday stupidity tomorrow.

Sleep well, and dream of many species of birds! 🙂

sigh

I love my mother