Of wings — and their tales

We humans live among superheroes — the everyday bird, perched on your balcony, singing its sweet song, is in fact a mighty warrior who has overcome all manner of hardships to reach its nest. Birds, like all superheroes, aren’t who they seem. We think they’re cute, chirpy little beings — but they are the descendants of dinosaurs, those mighty prehistoric reptiles who once dominated Earth. Even among dinos as fearsome as the 9-ton Tyrannosaurus or the sickle-clawed Utahraptor, the birds we know today were the strongest — they survived an asteroid hitting Earth 66 million years, killing most species and setting off environmental disasters.

Ancient birds survived earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis, collapsing food chains — and thrived. Far from gloom at doom, early birds adapted to existing foods and ecosystems and developed new abilities. Over the years, as Earth itself revived, breathing, stretching and sighing into mountains and grasslands, seas and their shores, birds developed a dazzling range of sizes, colours, shapes, muscles — and songs.

No wonder avians have long fascinated humans, who can only stare with awe at their flights — some of these, as with the regal eagle gliding on ‘thermals’ or streams of air, are of fancy. Others, as with the Arctic Tern’s 90,000-km-long annual roundtrip between Arctic and Antarctic, are existential, seeking ideal conditions for breeding, foraging and recharging in adequate sunlight. For these feats, birds have superhuman powers — they can see ultraviolet light, sense Earth’s magnetic field, detect movement and position minutely and fly in perfectly coordinated flocks, have hollow bones and a syrinx which lets them communicate in calls, learn melodies handed down over generations — and mimic human speech. Like all superheroes, birds never sweat and their lustrous feathery capes are waterproof.

Birds first appeared on Earth 165 million years ago — we showed up just 6 million years ago. Homo sapiens can feel smug, thinking of our brain power, but a bird has 4 times more neuron value per unit volume than mammal brains, giving it extraordinary processing and expressive abilities. Today, several species, from dodos to Great Auks, have been eliminated into extinction by humans chasing their flesh and feathers. Many others face habitat loss, poachers and climate now. Will we finally drive off Earth what even an asteroid could not? A terrifying thought but there are solutions — as Times Evoke’s global experts point out, learning the incredible lineage and abilities of birds will help us see them as far more than our next dish. Join TE in exploring the world of birds — and in respecting the presence of superheroes.