| Why do we call people who are being stupid 'bird-brained'? |
The obvious answer is because birds necessarily have very small brains so that they're able to fly. After all, having a big brain would merely weigh them down and make take-off difficult.
According to Charles Watson, a professor of health sciences, 'In almost every language there is a joke about birds, particularly chickens, being dumb, but in general birds have smarter brains than most mammals - smarter than your average cat or dog. They run rings around dogs, and probably dolphins too. Most birds have incredibly good memories, learning and problem-solving abilities. Chickens can also grasp other complex mental concepts. For instance, chickens are able to understand that objects still exist even after they are hidden or removed from view. This level of cognition is actually beyond the capacity of small human children.' |
| Why are pirates depicted with a parrot on their shoulder?Read me! |
Although piracy itself goes back thousands of years, the roots of the parrot-on-the-shoulder look can be firmly tracked back to the 19th century and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was, of course, the man who wrote Treasure Island and created the character of Long John Silver, the one-legged pirate with a parrot on his shoulder.
 A stereotypical caricature of a pirate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Treasure Island was such a success that (almost) every pirate book/film/play ever since has featured a pirate - often the captain - with a parrot on his shoulder. |
| Why do dogs bark even before someone knocks at the door? |
First of all, we have to understand why dogs bark when there's someone at the door. They hark to warn us, their owners, and they do this because they are pack animals and they see us - humans - as members of their pack. If you've got the relationship right, then they see you as leaders of the pack: woe betide you if the dog thinks that it's the leader. Secondly, the reason why they can anticipate a knock at the door is because their sense of hearing is at least 10 times more acute than a human's. They're helped in this by having twice as many muscles for moving their ears as we do. They can also detect sounds and sense frequencies at a far higher rate than we can. |
| Why is yellow the colour of cowardice? |
Yellow has always been associated with cowardice and treachery. Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus Christ is almost always painted wearing yellow in medieval paintings. In Spain, victims of the Inquisition wore yellow, to imply they were guilty of heresy and treason. In the American Wild West a man thought to be cowardly was called a 'yellow-belly' or a 'yellow dog'. |
| Why do squirrels have fluffy tails?Read me! |
My immediate reaction was to say, 'Because it makes them look cute.' And who can deny that squirrels have much better PR than rats and mice, which don't have fluffy tails?  The Douglas Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii) is an example of wildlife. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) After some research, I discovered that there is, in fact, a perfectly good evolutionary reason why squirrels have acquired their thick tails. |
| Why are people's eyes different colours?Read me! |
It is, of course, genetic: we inherit eye and hair colour from our parents or grandparents. But they, in turn, will have inherited those colours from their parents, and if you go back far enough, it's all down to the way in which those distant ancestors adapted to the climate they lived in. Dark pigment in the eyes and skin protects against the damaging rays of the bright sun. Lighter pigment allows the skin to absorb more sunlight ideal for areas with little sun. So what you look like today depends in large part on what your ancestors encountered centuries ago.  Photograph of a Hispanic woman with heterochromia. Her left eye is green/ hazel while her right eye is brown. Speakslowly was the photographer. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Is it possible for a person to have two eyes of different colours? |
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