Groaning Blush. Chauna torquata, Southern Screamer, ARTIS Amsterdam Zoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
No! I didn't climb the fence of this Bird's enclosure to test its scientific name Chauna. Nor did I hear its screaming cries. Great Carolus Linnaeus calls it Parra chavaria, but he adds a note: according to Nicolas Jacquin (1727-1817) the Bird makes a crackling or groaning sound when you handle it. There are air cells between its skin and the muscles that emit groans when you touch. In any case, Johannes Carolus Illiger (1775-1813) in his official description (1811) changes the name of the genus to Chauna - derived from an ancient Greek word for spongy flesh - with reference to those air cells. Hence the 'groaning' of my title. In nature it screamingly cackles (but I haven't heard it).
Groaning Blush. Chauna torquata, Southern Screamer, ARTIS Amsterdam Zoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
No! I didn't climb the fence of this Bird's enclosure to test its scientific name Chauna. Nor did I hear its screaming cries. Great Carolus Linnaeus calls it Parra chavaria, but he adds a note: according to Nicolas Jacquin (1727-1817) the Bird makes a crackling or groaning sound when you handle it. There are air cells between its skin and the muscles that emit groans when you touch. In any case, Johannes Carolus Illiger (1775-1813) in his official description (1811) changes the name of the genus to Chauna - derived from an ancient Greek word for spongy flesh - with reference to those air cells. Hence the 'groaning' of my title. In nature it screamingly cackles (but I haven't heard it).