Sunday, November 14, 2021

Speak louder than words

Healthy planet, anyone?

It’s years since I visited Oakland’s Museum of California – now known as MOCO – and learned that bees sang for their supper. Put another way, bees, upon alighting on a plant – sing an appropriate song to induce the plant to release its nectar and feed the bee
Now, I learn that bees scream when attacked by murder hornets  A recent study:
… published in the Royal Society Open Science journal… revealed that bees release a “rallying call for collective defence” against the hornets. The previously undiscovered signal, now known as an “anti-predator pipe, shares acoustic traits with alarm shrieks, fear screams and panic calls of primates, birds and meerkats”…
Bees produce the sound by vibrating their wings or thorax, elevating their abdomens and exposing a gland to release a pheromone.
. Will humans learn the even a fraction of what makes our wonderful planet tick before we destroy all of nature?
***
Meantime, let’s enjoy photo collections of other amazing critters and their habit.
Nature under threat: a Cop26 photographic competition 
Avian adventurers: BirdLife Australia 2022 calendar.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

More amazing critters. Took these pix with an actual camera on my walk today.

American wigeon




Brown pelicans and white pelicans, plus other shore birds




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