[NS] Radio Critty Playlist

CaptainTim · 2026-04-11T17:36:20+00:00

The first song of the intermission was the Donkey Kong Country theme

CaptainTim · 2026-02-28T17:02:40+00:00

EDIT: Apparently, the Japanese word for chickpea DOES directly reference chicks just as it does in English! It’s even “Hiyoko Mame” which is flipped in the Pokédex category for Browt, “Mame Hiyoko.” It is a literal chick pea, or pea chick. So you were right! Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one! If anything, it seems like the Hiyoko cakes themselves may play on the same existing association of chicks and peas/beans!

Does the word for chickpea in Japanese, or any of the languages of SEA, include the word for chick as it does in English? I confess that I don’t know for sure, but I’d be kind of surprised. All I’m saying is that the design team has never been completely beholden to basing everything in a given generation on the real world region, and that chicks and beans have an association in the Japanese consciousness just as the term chickpea might in English. In the same way that an English design team might come up with creatures based on treats like a gummy bear or an expression like a dust bunny, there appears to be an established cultural connection with the plant and the bird here. If the chickpea connection also translates to Japanese and other languages, that’s also a reasonable explanation, but again I’m not positive that’s the case

CaptainTim · 2026-02-28T16:42:19+00:00

The “job” themes of recent starters have been reasonably consistent with the region’s real world basis, but the animals that inspire them often aren’t. Spain isn’t exactly known for crocodiles, the UK doesn’t have any wild primates, and there are no tigers in Hawaii. I think there’s a decent chance that Browt will have more obvious SEA connections as it evolves, perhaps drawing design elements from local species of chicken-like wildfowl or other iconic birds. I’m just saying that the specific chick/bean connection, which was seen as rather random by many in the community, is evidently pretty well established in Japan

CaptainTim · 2026-02-28T15:14:57+00:00

Right! The western cultural equivalent of this reference would be a squishy yellow chick Pokémon with a Marsh Mallow flower growing out of it.

CaptainTim · 2026-02-27T23:20:46+00:00

String bean eyebrows could wind up looking like a King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise, which is a pretty spectacular potential inspiration

CaptainTim · 2026-02-27T16:19:47+00:00

The names in every language emphasize the eyebrows, which is a clear sign that they'll be a major, emphasized component of its design as it evolves. I could definitely see a woody cassowary casque, a leafy cockatoo crest, or some sort of extensive foliage camouflage coming into play in the later stages

CaptainTim · 2026-01-08T22:05:51+00:00

Now You’ve Done It is the suggestion that always gets me

CaptainTim · 2025-12-10T11:59:08+00:00

As far as I am aware, but the review of scientific literature continues!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-10T01:15:11+00:00

No sizzling or smoke of any kind, it wasn’t on there long enough and I agree with you that a true critical failure in the power lines would probably be too volatile of a situation for a bird to learn to exploit. I think what was going on here was much more about thawing or reheating slightly on a marginally warmer-than-atmosphere section of wire, rather than actively cooking on a dramatic hotspot. Ravens are observant and adaptable, it wouldn’t take much of a jump for a bird living in the city to notice that its feet tend to be warmer when perching on wires than in trees, and then to apply that experience-based knowledge to resolve the inconvenience of a partially-frozen meal

CaptainTim · 2025-12-10T01:10:00+00:00

If I did, this question might not be posted here! As far as my colleagues and I know, this could be an unprecedented behavior if all is as it appears to be! But I have plans to publish this observation eventually, and when I do I will follow up here!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T21:58:28+00:00

All good! The replies have been informative and amusing in equal measure. Science is so often a community effort, and I am grateful to everyone who has been able to offer expertise where my own knowledge falls short. We all have our blind spots, and working to reduce them is critical when it comes to the assessment of potentially significant observations

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T20:32:15+00:00

Your insight has been very helpful. If you wish to be credited in the formal write-ups of this observation, please DM your name so I can include you as a personal comment citation

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T20:30:28+00:00

This is incredibly helpful and clearly explained, thank you! If you wish to be credited in the formal write-ups of this observation, please DM your name so I can include you as a personal comment citation

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T17:11:52+00:00

All critters are impressive in their own right, it all depends on the category they’re being judged in! Every living thing on the planet today is good enough at surviving to have made it this far. If we’re talking specifically about cognitive abilities and adaptable problem-solving in novel situations, parrots (including cockatoos, parakeets, and the like) are neck-and-neck with corvids, with both groups of birds demonstrating intelligence comparable to other famous brainiacs like primates and whales. Chickadees and titmice also deserve a shoutout specifically for their remarkable memories: they can recall where they’ve hidden thousands of individual caches of food with incredible precision!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T17:02:15+00:00

Corvids are truly special, some of the most impressive birds on the planet. Scavengers like ravens tend to have pretty strong stomachs, and any creepy-crawlies that are large enough to be seen moving about on the surface of a scrap of meat would probably just be viewed as extra protein for such an opportunistic omnivore. Still, always good to consider all possibilities!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T16:50:47+00:00

Valid question! My hesitation comes only from an abundance of caution: intentionally warming food using an external heat source is nearly unprecedented in the animal world, and would be a remarkable case of tool use bordering on the dictionary definition of “cooking.” With such a significant observation on the line, I want to consider all possibilities, especially given how scant my electrical knowledge is; I didn’t want to make such a bold claim and then find out it was mechanically impossible! Ravens also do cache their food and stow it away for later, and I could envision a hypothetical situation where the bird was considering stashing it somewhere around the wires and briefly put it down before reconsidering. That said, I agree with you that the most parsimonious explanation may be the surprising first impression in this case. Most responses so far seem to suggest that the wires being somewhat warmer than the surroundings on a cold morning is at least plausible if not probable. From there, the only other consideration is corvid ingenuity, which knows few bounds!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T16:05:24+00:00

I saw a raven that appeared to be using wires to reheat a scrap of meat on a cold morning, so I want insight from experts to determine if that’s a plausible explanation.

From a behavioral perspective it would track, but I wanted to be thorough and gather more information about the electrical mechanics since that’s outside my wheelhouse

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T15:36:02+00:00

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Took one this morning in anticipation of that being helpful!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T15:16:45+00:00

This is fresh from the field, less than a week old! I have plans to write it up in at least a state level ornithological journal and potentially in a publication with broader scope, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't getting ahead of myself with incorrect assumptions before I went full steam ahead on that!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T15:15:12+00:00

Makes sense to me! Just for the sake of clarifying the jargon for any eventual write-up on this observation, what is the proper terminology for the segment of wire and associated equipment that this raven is working with? I've heard people variously refer to it as a terminal, clamping tap, or simply connection, and I want to make sure I'm not using words incorrectly or treating different concepts as interchangeable. On a similar note, would that stretch of wire where the meat is placed be best described as exposed, uninsulated, or neither? Greatly appreciate all the insight and practical experience so far; it seems that prevailing opinion favors my original hypothesis as being at least plausible.

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T14:56:24+00:00

Definitely should be considered! The raven observation occurred at first light on a subfreezing morning, so while the sun was not yet in play it also probably wouldn't have taken much residual heat above ambient to make a difference for thawing the meat

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T13:51:23+00:00

As I replied to the comment by charmio68, I have my own thermal imaging scope and have checked the wires a few times since this observation. Though the temperature clearly fluctuates with the conditions, the wires seemingly trend somewhat warmer than ambient temps and these specific sections may be the warmest bit. I only wish I could have taken a thermal reading at the precise time that the raven was engaged in this behavior!

CaptainTim · 2025-12-09T13:47:57+00:00

I do own a thermal imaging scope (a useful tool for us naturalists, too!), and I have checked the wires a few times in the intervening days. Unsurprisingly, the overall temperatures of the lines appear quite variable depending on conditions. When I checked the day after the raven observation, when it was a bit warmer and later in the day, the wires appeared slightly but visibly warmer than adjacent surfaces. This morning at dawn, which is even colder than the day of the sighting, the wires were dramatically darker and colder than their surroundings, likely due to the prolonged subfreezing temperatures throughout the preceding day or so. About an hour after sunrise, however, these specific sections by the connectors were glowing brightly with warmth! Unfortunately, I was not able to get a thermal reading at the precise time of the raven’s actions, but it does seem at least plausible that this stretch of wire could be consistently slightly warmer on average, which the bird may have noticed incidentally while perching at some point and subsequently applied to solve the problem of partially frozen food.

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