The baby schema effect describes how human babies’ faces have evolved to be perceived as cute, increasing the likelihood of caretaking behaviors by their parents. In the animal kingdom, we see alternative adaptations that aim to increase an infant’s chance of survival, such as the conspicuously colored mouths of baby birds which make prey transfer easier for the adults. So, what inspires the tawny frogmouth (
Podargus Strigoides), a rather unusual-looking bird found across Australia’s mainland and Tasmania, to be a good parent? Looking at their offspring, apparently tiny, fluffy pom-poms of pure rage.
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You might imagine a frog with wings (such a thing did exist once, sort of) to be quite the comical character, but the tawny frogmouth is a cantankerous predatory bird who, frankly, has had enough. Scowling in the treetops, they can be almost impossible to spot thanks to feathers that blend them seamlessly into tree trunks and branches. Frogmouths sometimes get confused for o