A Philly scientist thinks an Australian parrot might eat flesh

Since 2012, the rainbow lorikeet, an Aussie parrot with clownish coloration, has undergone two mild bouts of internet virality. The first stemmed from the bird’s obscene tongue: a thin, purplish tube topped with an explosion of beige hairs designed to absorb their sustenance of choice –– nectar. The notoriety of this brushlike appendage makes it all the odder that, three years later, the birds went viral again when an Australian birder reported that the lorikeets in his backyard had, for the better part of a decade, been snacking on meat. Read more.

 

Tags: carbon isotopes Nitrogen