One of my kids’ favorite pastimes is looking at pictures/videos of exotic wildlife on the web. Let’s see: there were the zebus, the bald eagles, the baby chicks that people have dyed various colors while still in the egg (the ethics of this are debatable but it looks cool) and so on. The latest fixation is the somewhat oddly named, rainforest dwelling Cock of the Rock (I’m guessing the Yanomamo didn’t come up with that one). They discovered this fascinating creature in a slightly crunchy children’s book about deforestation in the Amazon that our friends Amelia and Steve (do you guys still read this thing?) passed on.
Anyway, I didn’t really know anything about the bird in question so of course I googled the name. The third entry that came up was a gay porn site, but thanks to the wholesome intellectual nourishment that is Wiki, we got the scoop. The scientific name is Rupicola, and they do look kind of amazing. My people like to go around making up little songs about cock of the rocks (or would it be cocks of the rock?) while I’m laughing so hard my tea is coming out my nose. There are just some words that make you giggle. Oh and by the way, in case you were wondering, only the guys have the stunning red crests. The females, of course, are “far duller.” Isn’t that always the way?
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