Bird with a Twist U8A9268 by Daniel D'Auria Via Flickr: It’s a bright mid-winter day and a frigid wind blowing through tall pines creates the only sound audible for miles. I strain to hear anything else at all, but for the occasional snap of a branch the silence is almost deafening. Suddenly, from high atop a nearby pine a song erupts. It’s a cheerful song - high pitched and almost gleeful. And a tiny bird does it’s best to fill a woodland stage with charismatic melody. It’s a bird with a twist… a bill that doesn’t merge in a typical fashion, at all. Instead of a mandible that neatly into an upper maxilla above, these structures crisscross sitting alongside one another. At first glance one would thing this poor, unfortunate creature was injured or deformed. But as one continues to watch, the realization occurs that this is one of the more interesting yet subtle manifestations of evolutionary change, allowing the bird to pluck the smallest of seeds nestled deeply betwixt the scales of tiny pine cones. Nature’s marvels are all around us. One needs only to take the time to keep an open eye and open mind.
