"Perplexed in Peoria"  wrote in
news:cdd2qt$2s0v$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org: 

> 
> "William Morse"  wrote in message
> news:cdc3u3$2hpv$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org... 
>> Tim Tyler  wrote in
>> news:cd77b1$tc7$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org:
>>
>> > William Morse  wrote or quoted:
>> >
>> >> This leads to the question of why there are no toxic birds. Again
>> >> contingency is one answer. Anybody have any others?
>> >
>> > Dubious premise:
>> >
>> > ``The Hooded Pitohui, and two close relatives, are the first
>> > documented
>> >   poisonous birds.''
>> >
>> >  - http://www.interaktv.com/articles/pitohui.htm
>> >
>> > http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2001/2/intoxnewguinea
>> > bir ds.cfm
>> >
>> > ...has the full story.
>>
>> Thanks for the reference. In my defense I will note the phrase "the
>> first documented poisonous birds" in a 2001 article.Now I have to go
>> find out if they advertise their toxicity.
> 
> You are on a roll, Bill.  Assuming that the purpose of biological
> theory is to elicit fascinating biological facts, you must be reckoned
> as a very successful sbe theorist.  Have any more good theories?  ;-)
 

Lots, but unfortunately so far they're only 1/4 baked, so you'll have to 
wait until they are twice as well baked before I print them :-)


But the full story did actually prove rather interesting. First of all, 
lots of people were excited to find toxic birds - although the pitohui 
turns out to be a rather common bird in New Guinea that was known for many 
years. Apparently because everyone knew there were no toxic birds, no one 
thought to check out the reports of the New Guinea natives that the bird 
was toxic.

The more interesting thing is that the bird, like monarch butterflies, gets 
its toxicity by sequestering a toxic compound produced by something else. 
The compound is the same one that makes poison dart frogs toxic. And 
(something I never knew) poison dart frogs are themselves only toxic by 
sequestration - if you raise them in a lab on feed that doesn't contain the 
poison they aren't toxic! Now I suppose I will have to do some more 
checking to find out if any animals that are toxic to eat (as opposed to 
those that use poison in other ways) produce their own poisons.


By the way - the short article indicated that the birds did "advertise" 
their toxicity by bright colors. But as they live on the same islands as 
birds of paradise, I tend to wonder.

And as a final note - is there any significance to the name of the birds? 
Doesn't "pitohui" sound an awful lot like "ptooey" ?


Yours,

Bill Morse
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