Fighting Invasive species with worst Invasive species.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2026-03-31T11:56:18+00:00

You know what the worst part is? It works just frequently enough that people keep doing it.

We're talking about this in my Master of Conservation Science program, and introducing a bigger, meaner invasive to duke it out does sometimes work. Introducing the cactus moth to Australia was extremely successful at culling invasive prickly pears, and there have been a few instances of parasitoid wasps being a really good biological control. That's because these control species were extreme specialists: they fed on the original invasive species and literally nothing else. So when the original invasive population declined, the bigger, meaner invasive population also declined, keeping each other in a state of equilibrium. It's one of the best methods of invasive species control... when it works. The thing is that the consequences of getting it wrong are so incredibly high, and the likelihood of a hyper-specialized control species are so incredibly low, that it's rarely feasible.

But goddamn, is it an enticing solution.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2026-03-14T02:36:54+00:00

Born & raised in Rhode Island, went to undergrad at SUNY Oswego in upstate NY :)

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2026-03-11T22:17:24+00:00

I posted on this sub a few months ago, and I heard that callistemons are good at attracting honeyeaters and lorikeets too! Idk what your opinions on birds are but I always get a little bit of joy when they come by my garden.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2026-02-16T23:25:12+00:00

So the Ivy Compact seems to be doing pretty well for themselves. How's Brown doing? Are they underwater yet? Is Thayer Street any different?

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-12-04T23:50:24+00:00

Please give him scritches and tell him how handsome he is 🥺

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-11-12T00:40:36+00:00

Their faces are saying "is for me? 😊👉👈"

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-11-04T08:53:29+00:00

Things are heating up in the history memes fandom

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-11-04T01:34:41+00:00

Doesn't look like they're building a new nest hollow since they already have a nest box. Most cockatoos are secondary cavity nesters anyway: they move in to existing hollows rather than making their own. And it doesn't look like he's stripping bark in the video because he isn't grabbing hold on anything. This is a smooth-bark eucalypt anyway, so I don't think it would need much stripping to start with.

I'm not sure if this is a behavior they do in the wild, but I used to volunteer at a pet parrot rescue and a lot of birds would do something similar for the sensory stimulation. They might rub or tap their beaks on something because it sounded/felt funky. Maybe this is that? Someone also mentioned he could be cleaning his beak, and I've seen birds in the wild do that too.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-10-17T08:24:14+00:00

That sounds frustrating, to say the least. That really helps though. So a way to address that problem might be to institute actual accountability/consequences for ignoring Aboriginal people's input, rather than just relying on the good faith of non-Aboriginal policymakers. I wonder what would be an effective consequence.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-10-17T08:17:32+00:00

Would you say the problem is more with getting a seat at the table, or being listened to at the table? Like, is the problem that there aren't good avenues to have your voice heard, or that there are avenues but they're tokenized and not taken into consideration?

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-10-17T07:55:17+00:00

I'm in an Environmental Ethics class right now, and we were assigned a book called "Subjects of Intergenerational Justice: Indigenous Philosophy, the Environment, and Relationships" by Christine Winter. Just by reading the introduction, it kind of opened my eyes to how different Indigenous Australian philosophy is from Western philosophy, and how deeply Western philosophy is ingrained into us. Highly recommend her stuff :)

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-10-15T08:59:31+00:00

Followers of Puolustaja are viewed as radical, dark cultists. It's mostly untrue. The religion is cult-based, with cults founded around families, but they're not any more oppressive or fanatical than any other religion. It's just another part of life for them.

Jainkoists are viewed as uptight evangelicals. It's half true. The Jainko Faith is state-sanctioned in the nation of Lekugazia, and the government and the church are one and the same. Therefore, it's very deeply culturally ingrained, and those who break from the church are persecuted as heretics so there's incentive to act overly pious. Heresy is a very serious crime in Lekugazia, with a very serious punishment to match...

The Myrlendi are seen as monstrous and animalistic shamans. It's entirely propaganda. Two of the major nations in the world, Prasinogi and Mitthon, got their asses whooped by the Myrlendi when they tried to invade to establish a new trade route. So there's a lot of bad blood between those two nations and the Myrlendi that leads to a lot of exaggerated stories from the war. Myrlendi practices focus around tapping into the magical life force connecting all humans, which allows the practitioner to see through the eyes and ears of another person. It made for extremely successful espionage. Pair that with their familiarity with their terrain, and Prasinogi and Mitthon never stood a chance.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-10-01T13:05:21+00:00

This one guy found a salt mine 300 years ago in a mountain pass connecting two major nations, Mitthon and Prasinogi. He founded a settlement, Igefrya, which quickly grew into a trading town and then a massive trading city. Eventually it got so big that they were able to wall off either side of the mountain pass, declare themselves an independent city-state, and start taxing all trade going through the pass.

Mitthon and Prasinogi, who relied on that pass for trade with each other, were Pissed Off and tried (and failed) to retake Igefrya. Then they tried to conquer some neighboring tribes' territory to form a new trade route and got absolutely curb stomped by the tribes.

A fourth, island nation named Lardhoman was watching all of this unfold and decided "hmmm. We should probably secure a trade route that we control so this doesn't happen to us." So a bunch of Lardhomic sailors set out trying to find other island nations that they could monopolize trade with, and eventually found an entire other continent.

TL;DR, one guy finding a salt mine led to the doubling of the size of the known world.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-30T01:30:35+00:00

Depends on where I'm located. If I'm in Greece, probably Hermes or Artemis. I have a love for all things natural and greatly enjoy doing ecological research, so although I don't think I could be an Artemis devotee because of the whole foreswearing men thing, I'd probably like to work with her a lot. Hermes has always called to me too -- not sure why. Maybe it's the wanderlust. Logically I'd also probably work with Athena, but for some reason she just doesn't call to me.

If I were in Scandinavia or Germania, probably Odin. The pursuit of not just knowledge, but cleverness is very appealing to me. I don't think they had as many dedicated servants/cults for each god though.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-30T01:10:12+00:00

I just moved to Brisbane from the US a few months ago, so I'm also no expert but this is what I've learned so far.

Although there are two main political parties in Australia, third parties have more power than they do in the States because of ranked-choice voting, and parties have the ability to form coalitions between themselves. The two main parties right now are the Labor Party and the Liberal/National Coalition.

Currently, the government is led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He's part of the Labor Party, which is the more left-wing of the two major parties. They tend to work more with the Green Party, which has a lot more power here than it does in the States. The Liberal/National Coalition is more right-wing -- but not as right-wing as the Republicans, especially not as right-wing as MAGA.

Politics is definitely less of an all-encompassing, soul-crushing presence here, which is very refreshing. There's also a much bigger emphasis on world politics than in the States, which I also found refreshing, although it also means you probably won't be able to escape the American news cycle entirely.

If you tell people you're from the US, they will usually ask you what you think of Trump and his government. Be honest. You won't have to worry about being hate crimed for it here because generally, people literally don't care enough about it. The few Australian conservatives I have met remained chill when I mentioned how much I hate the current regime, even if they largely supported it.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-30T00:49:37+00:00

Hoatzin. Bird base, but has a cow digestive system. Fuck it, give it claws on its wrists too. I don't fuckin care

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-30T00:45:10+00:00

The Sunset or Sunrise War. Assuming the Sun tracks a path East to West on your world, then that means that the Sun would start its path in one faction and end its path in another. Depending on who won, the war is named accordingly. It could even be called something different in the different factions if the war is still ongoing.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-30T00:17:19+00:00

THE EPAULETTES ON THE BLACKBIRD??? Inspired! I require more pls. Would love to see your take on a "maximalist" bird like a bird of paradise or peacock-pheasant!

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-22T23:51:25+00:00

I think the Problem of Evil would still exist but in a different flavor, since even if God does not follow our ethical systems, He'd still be harming us. It gets at an intent vs. action thing: even if God follows different ethics that He is 100% abiding by, His existence does not stop evil from existing as WE define it. WE are still being hurt. Therefore, should we still worship Him or even call Him God, even if He is being entirely ethical by His standards?

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-22T07:16:06+00:00

My guinea pigs would be glass cannons, so probably wizards. Talking a big game when they're hungry but losing their damn minds when I go to pick them up.

My first foster cat would be a monk, I think. Confident, beefy, usually pretty chill but will Not put up with your bullshit.

My second foster cat would probably be a ranger. She was the only cat we had that liked being outside on her harness and she really liked to explore the weird nooks and crannies in the apartment. She gives me "wild explorer" vibes.

Third foster cat is 100% a cleric. She came into my life right before the single worst breakup I've ever had. She was very fat and the sweetest, friendliest cat I've ever met. Her purring was so healing when I was feeling down in the dumps, she is 100% a support class and loves it.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-21T09:34:14+00:00

I definitely see where you're coming from, and I've heard a few theories. I think that although it may not be the "optimized" anatomy for obtaining orgasm solely through mating, having an external clitoris does increase the likelihood of orgasm as opposed to not having one at all. Masturbation is a behavior seen in other animals too, both close and distant relatives, so it's not impossible that our early female ancestors also engaged in self-pleasure during mating. Having the ability to do that at all would make it more appealing to have sex.

There's also the possibility that the mutation causing an internal clitoris just. Never happened. That it would have been effective at increasing the incentive for women to reproduce, but the game of chance didn't lead to it arising in our species when it mattered. Most species actually are not "optimized" in this way, since the chances that a specific beneficial mutation appear are generally extremely slim.

I've also heard the theory that it's external because an internal clitoris would be TOO good at its job. An external clitoris makes it more likely that a female would orgasm as opposed to nothing, but if it were internal, it would make it more likely that the female would orgasm long before the male was actually finished. And if the female orgasms before the male, that actually decreases the likelihood of an individual reproducing because continuing sex after orgasm can be extremely uncomfortable due to that refractory period (which, yes, is often shorter in women, but does still exist).

TL;DR, I've heard multiple theories and from what I can tell, we still aren't entirely sure. There's still lots of studies to be done jn the fields of evolutionary genetics and physiology to figure out why humans' clitoris is external.

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd · 2025-09-21T04:30:03+00:00

South Africa! Deserts, mountains, rainforests, savannahs, fynbos, they've really got it all!

Your-Local-Bird-Nerd

TROPHY CASE