The
Radio Parrot
The
radio parrot, Ara radius, is
a close cousin to the blue-and-gold macaw, and one of the bigger
representatives of the Psittacidae family. Native to South-America,
the species had long been considered a phenotype of the blue-and-gold
macaw, due to its plumage following the same pattern, if not the same
colors. Indeed, instead of the blue and yellow, radio parrots have
green and red feathers, making them extremely hard to spot in the
jungle. But not very hard to hear.
Like
many migratory birds, the radio parrots have a special organe in
their brains that contains a small metallic “needle”, allowing
them to find their north. In addition to telling us something about
the evolutive history of this species (radio parrots are not
migrating birds, but the presence of this organ indicates they must
have been some time in the past), it also allows radio parrots to
“tune in” to the frequencies used by man-made radios. When radio
waves pass through or near the parrots, they will shuffle their
feathers and squawk in rythmic sequences, which are influenced by the
information carried by the radio waves.
When
this was first discovered by Dr. Jack Ough, from the South-American
Institute for Feathers n'Stuff (SAIFS), it was seen only as a small
curiosity in the biological world. However, it has recently become
clear that the importance of the radio parrot is much higher than
previously assumed. Indeed, a number of rebel groups hiding in the
South-American jungle use the birds to detect enemy signals, which
would alert them to radio-surveillance or imminent attacks. In
addition, several cryptologists have been able to decipher important
information contained in radio communications from the behavior of
radio parrots.
Meanwhile,
the wild populations of radio parrots keep plummeting, presumably
because of the extreme disturbance the animals experience because of
omnipresent radio-waves in their habitat. The global use of
cellphones has only excarberated the problem, and it seems likely
that the species will go completely extinct in the wild by the end of
the decade.
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