Africa Wild

I'm helping my 6 year old grandson with his homework, which is spotting birds in our garden and then doing a comparison with birds in the Gambia. He asked me why the African birds are bigger and brighter and I hazarded a theory that they are bigger and more plentiful because of the climate and the abundance of food. Because they are so plentiful, there is more competition and they need to be colourful to attract a mate. Can anyone help me please?

Good question rayb. I don't have an answer though.

Maybe Dewi will shed some light.

Have read some months ago that coloration in birds speeds up evolution.

I guess the bird plumages have evolved away from brown and dark camouflage coloration and have achieved some striking colors. Might be that the european birds are of the early lineages dominated by dark colors.

Great question by your grandson Ray.

There is no clear cut answer to this one.

Studies have proved that there are the same or very similar percentages of colourful to cryptic birds in all regions (23-27%), it's just that in the tropics, there are more species due to the diversity and richness of habitats found there therefore the abundance of colouful ones appears greater. In all regions, there are more dull coloured birds than colourful ones.

Tropical birds tend to favour certain colours, whilst birds of open habitats favour others. These colours, although obvious when the bird is out in the open, act as camoflague when in their habitat.

The colourful species have evolved to use their colour as part of their display. Females pick the showiest/brightest males, therefore their genes are passed down as they are the ones that get the chance to breed.

Thanks Dewi, you're not Chris Packham in disguise are you? :)

I think Chris could learn from Dewi!

There was a Natural World on tv last night Ray - Birds of Paradise. It's not on iPlayer (I just checked). They explained the evolution of the colourful males and their amazing displays. Keep an eye out in case it's on in your area again.

Link to some clips from the show.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pv1kd#clips

Nice, Dewi!

Interesting stuff here!