cazort: lies: Hutton’s Vireo (Vireo huttoni) Lambert Road,…
lies:
Hutton’s Vireo (Vireo huttoni)
Convergent evolution? It look so much like a ruby-crowned kinglet, but isn’t even in the same family.
Yeah, Sibley calls it “strikingly similar to Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but heavier, with thicker hooked bill, thicker legs, and lack of dark bar across base of secondaries.” They hang out in the same habitat, often in the same tree, and forage in similar fashion (though kinglets do more of that hover-and-pick thing). I feel like it might go beyond convergent evolution and actually involve some kind of adaptive mimicry by one species or the other, though I can’t think what purpose that would have.
I wanted to post a comparison photo of a RCKI, but it turns out I haven’t taken any (despite being practically inundated by them in the last few weeks). I’ll work on that when I have a chance, but in the meantime here’s a public-domain image:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet by Rachel Ames/NPS
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/179632720896.
Tags: birds, rcki, huvi, convergent evolution, adaptive mimicry.
