What Are Some Birds That Can 39;t Fly

[Berniece Domnick]

Belgrades hot weather, overcrowding and noisiness makes Vesna sick. Her parents are divorced, but still remain friendly to one another. They take her to see a doctor and she gets diagnosed with leukemia. They try to help her but nothing works. Vesna's grandpa lives in the forest, far away from the city. Her mother, who hasn't spoken to him for over 20 years, decides to ask him for help. He arrives to the hospital by his horse and suggests that Vesna comes to live with him for some time, saying that nature would make her feel better. Her family eventually agrees, and so Vesna goes to live with her grandpa for two months. He lives in a wooden house, with no television and electricity. He has a lot of animals, which Vesna mets the next morning. She tries to run away, but her grandpa catches her, has a talk with her and succeeds in making her more comfortable.

One day, Vesna's grandfather gets caught in a bear trap. He can't do anything for days, and has to lay in bed, so Vesna has to learn to take care of them both. Her grandpa gets better again and they continue doing something new every day. In the end her family comes to pick her up. Her mother is delighted that her daughter feels better and beat leukemia. Vesna goes home and had to learn everything she missed from school. She passes her geography oral exam and was only left with Serbian and music exam. While she plays a musical instrument, she faints and the teacher runs out calling for help. They take her to the hospital and she becomes sad again. Her grandpa comes and takes her. She immediately becomes happy and jumps in his arms. The nurse tries to stop him but he won't let Vesna go. Him and his friend drive her to grandpa's house and she becomes happy and healthy again. Her grandpa ends up getting shot by someone. They bury him in the forest, while his dog sits there whining. Vesna kisses his cross and whispers something, then leaves her tetris on the ground. On their way home, she sees a stork named Đura, she says that his family went south, but that he can't because he hurt his wing, that he'll die. Her mother says that he won't, that maybe he'll fly away. Vesna's reply to that was "He won't, some birds can't fly".

Scientists often had stressed the importance in evolution of changes in the genes that code for (or make) proteins. Examples are relatively easy to find. For instance, an earlier study suggested that mutations in a single gene shrank the wings of flightless birds known as Galpagos cormorants.

Scott Edwards and his colleagues got around that problem by decoding the genetic instruction books, or genomes, of 11 bird species. Edwards is an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Eight of the species were flightless birds. The researchers then compared these genomes to already completed genomes from other birds. Those included flightless birds such as ostriches, white-throated tinamous, North Island brown kiwis and emperor and Adlie penguins. They also included 25 species of flying birds.

Those regulatory DNA bits tended to be close to genes that help make limbs, such as wings and legs. That hints that they might tweak gene activity to make smaller wings. The team tested how well one such bossy DNA bit could turn on a gene in chicken wings when chicks were still inside their eggs. That piece of bossy DNA is called an enhancer.

Outside of the bird family tree, flight has evolved only a few times, Edward says. It evolved in pterosaurs, in bats, and maybe a couple of times in insects. But birds have lost flight multiple times. There are no known examples of regaining flight once it has been lost, he says.

DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) A long, double-stranded and spiral-shaped molecule inside most living cells that carries genetic instructions. It is built on a backbone of phosphorus, oxygen, and carbon atoms. In all living things, from plants and animals to microbes, these instructions tell cells which molecules to make.

emu A large, flightless bird. Only the ostrich is a larger bird. The emu is native to Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and some South Pacific islands. The animal belongs to a very primitive family within modern birds. It eats fruits, seeds and insects and tends to travel over a broad region rather than settling down in one small area.

evolutionary biologist Someone who studies the adaptive processes that have led to the diversity of life on Earth. These scientists can study many different subjects, including the microbiology and genetics of living organisms, how species change to adapt, and the fossil record (to assess how various ancient species are related to each other and to modern-day relatives).

genetic Having to do with chromosomes, DNA and the genes contained within DNA. The field of science dealing with these biological instructions is known as genetics. People who work in this field are geneticists.

muscle A type of tissue used to produce movement by contracting its cells, known as muscle fibers. Muscle is rich in protein, which is why predatory species seek prey containing lots of this tissue.

protein A compound made from one or more long chains of amino acids. Proteins are an essential part of all living organisms. They form the basis of living cells, muscle and tissues; they also do the work inside of cells. Among the better-known, stand-alone proteins are the hemoglobin (in blood) and the antibodies (also in blood) that attempt to fight infections. Medicines frequently work by latching onto proteins.

pterosaur Any of various extinct flying reptiles of the order Pterosauria. These animals lived 245 million years ago to 65 million years ago. Although not true dinosaurs, they lived during the reign of dinosaurs. Among members of this order were the pterodactyls of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, which were characterized by wings consisting of a flap of skin supported by the very long fourth digit on each forelimb.

tissue Made of cells, it is any of the distinct types of materials that make up animals, plants or fungi. Cells within a tissue work as a unit to perform a particular function in living organisms. Different organs of the human body, for instance, often are made from many different types of tissues.

Founded in 2003, Science News Explores is a free, award-winning online publication dedicated to providing age-appropriate science news to learners, parents and educators. The publication, as well as Science News magazine, are published by the Society for Science, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education.

When birds are flying, there are many ways to identify them. First, you can look at the flight pattern. For example, some hawks will glide, unlike sparrows which will usually flap their wings. Then, you can look at the birds colour and size, which can help you narrow down the bird species a little bit. Lastly, you can view the wing shape. As an example, swallow wings are very different than warbler wing shapes. With a combination of all these factors, you may be able to identify a flying bird.

In my experience the best advice in this thread is that offered by @sedgequeen, which incidentally is the same advice offered by Kenn Kaufman in the book Advanced Birding, which is to spend more time watching birds you already know.

Find a place where you see some really common birds, such as a silo with roosting pigeons, where the pigeons frequently fly off it and fly around. Watch the pigeons for about 30 minutes. Find a place with some mourning doves (or whatever other doves are common in your area). Watch them for about 30 minutes.

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When we first came to dive at Kalpitiya, a couple of years ago, it was like love at first sight. Its not all about diving, but people, culture and slow life what we started to admire. Day to day life of most are closely connected to church in a good way. Life was slow.

Then I knew this is going to be an annual ritualistic visit. Since we wanted to connect more with the people, I suggested Niro and Devana about my plans to host a party after diving. They accepted my plan but none of us knew the scale or the format.

First thing first! I packed all my gear and headed to Kalpitiya in a bus which was a very hectic one. Especially with all my gear, it wasn't a good choice. When I reached my beach hut I was hungry and exhausted.

Without further wasting of time, I wanted to start diving next day. Shanaka who is the owner of our diving station welcomed me as always and made all the necessary arrangements. This time I was introduced to two young guys Ashen and Hasitha who are trainee dive masters to help with my plan. They had seen my underwater photos but never seen me in person. Actually Hasitha too was an underwater photographer with some history of working for media companies.

As I faced bad luck in east in last expedition, this time too sea conditions were not in my favor. Though I had a lot of plans to shoot underwater, it ended up being a challenge that tried my endurance. Once we were drifted with the current about 1.2 km. Luckily we had deployed a surface marker so the experienced boatman could track our path. Each dive we conducted in challenging conditions add more confidence to our portfolio of experiences.

Though murky and rough water doesn't give much chance to do wide angel photography, it leaves little chance to capitalize if you are creative in macro. Against all odds I managed to shoot one long awaited abstract shot of a soft coral.

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