Brazilian Phoo-Phoo birds by Waldo Historia
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:41AM Teddy Roosevelt was well-known as a safari hunter in Africa. Another part of the world also grabbed his attention. In 1898, while fighting in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, he heard from several locals about a bird from Brazil that was thought to be extinct for hundreds of years. These locals told Teddy that some of their relatives were down there tweny years ago and had actually heard the birds' whooping 'phooey phooey' cries. They were very disappointed that none were able to get sight of one, in the three years they were there. We are talking jungle environment, with thick overhanging foliage. Never saw a clearing for a sighting either.
In late 1900, after being elected vice-president in the national election, Teddy took a couple of weeks off before Inauguration Day. He hastily gathered a small expedition party and headed for the jungles of Brazil. "Boy, this is fun" he thought. Slogging through the branches and vines, slashing away with machetes. The growth seeming to redevelop minutes after feeling the shape edges of their blades. With this technique, his wildest thoughts reached to the taking over the Panama Canal that the French are botching up. Can't the French do anything right. Wait until he sees them in action during WWI.
Teddy picked a spot he figured would give the party the best vantage point for observations. Another reason: they were too pooped to go on. Tents were pitched, cameras set in place, and most importantly, the card tables and pinochle decks laid out. They brought lot of binoculars to catch sight of the elusive birds.
They spent two days without a peep. Played lots of pinochle. On the third day, a feast of activity took place. All members of the party heard a crescendo of cries from a small flock of phoo-phoo birds approaching. Quickly, they grabbed their binoculars and started scouring the tops of the trees. Looking between any openings of the canopy, they heard, but saw nothing. Then two members of the party saw a couple of the birds — quite by accident. While following forward of the sounds, these two had sneezed which jilted the binoculars to a backward movement. There the birds were — behind the cawing, not in front as you would expect. Informing the rest of the party of their sightings, and reason for it, the others did the same. Without the sneezing.
Indeed, the men saw the reason for not sighting the birds all these years. The Brazilian phoo-phoo bird flies backwards. That's right — backwards. (So, as reported, the hummingbird isn't the only bird that flies backwards!) They should not be confused with the Argentinian phoo-phoo bird. The Argentinian variety has one wing that is 12 foot long, and the other, only 2 foot. Hence, because of the disparity of wind under the wings, it flies sideways. Young ones fly in circles, until they get the hang of proper flying techniques.
The crew took many, many pictures, observing the phoo-phoos for several more days, Unfortunately, while someone remembered to pack the pinochle decks, all the pictures were left behind. In their observations, it became clear why they fly backwards. Their diet consists entirely of red-hot chili peppers. Flying backwards is the only way they know to cool off their bungholes.
© 2007 by James M. Britvich All Rights Reserved
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