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Your Life Will be Better After you Know About Frogmouths

2019-10-11 · explainer · Hank · 3:43 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: Curiosity & trivia · tags: recurring series, calendar ritual, self promotion

Hank introduces John to frogmouths: owl-like night hunters more closely related to hummingbirds, with huge bug-catching mouths, poor nest building and log-like camouflage, then announces Pizzamas from October 28 and the Pizza John Halloween mask.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Owls versus frogmouths: hummingbird kin, and why owl-like eyes read as wise

  • ★★★ Hank says frogmouths look like owls, with big front-facing eyes and nocturnal habits, but are actually more closely related to hummingbirds than to owls. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says humans, an eyeball-focused species, read big owl-like eyes as a sign of intelligence or emotion; owls are smart, as birds are, but ravens are smarter. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Night hunting, convergent eyes, the giant bug-catching mouth and cute big heads

  • ★★ Hank says frogmouths are night hunters like owls, hence convergent evolution on big front-facing eyes. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Hank says frogmouths mostly eat bugs, so instead of powerful legs they have a huge mouth that kept growing because bigger mouths caught more. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Hank says frogmouths will eat a mammal that comes close but struggle to kill it, so they whack it on rocks until it dies. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Hank says frogmouths tick the human 'cute brain' box: their heads look nearly as big as the rest of their body. — 00:01:27

00:01:51 — Bad nest building, borrowed nests, log camouflage and shape-shifting defences

  • ★★ Hank says frogmouths are terrible parents and very bad nest builders, possibly because of their tiny legs and specialized beaks, and often lose eggs or chicks to falls. (hedged) — 00:01:51
  • ★★ Hank says frogmouths take over the nests of more careful builders or human objects that look like good nests. — 00:01:51
  • ★★ Hank says frogmouths sleep by day and, being small, hide from predators by looking like logs, even swaying like part of the tree, or changing shape when threatened. — 00:02:20
  • ★★ Hank says Australia's tawny frogmouth has two further defences: pecking at the enemy and spraying poop all over it. — 00:02:20 · Australia

00:02:54 — Tawny frogmouth farewell, sign-off, Pizzamas 2019 and the Pizza John Halloween mask

  • ★★ Hank announces Pizzamas from October 28, when the brothers make videos every weekday as in 2007 and sell Pizza John products. — 00:02:54 · Pizzamas, Pizza John
  • ★★ Hank announces the Pizza John Halloween mask, sold before Pizzamas because it is needed before then, at DFTBA: the worst thing they've ever done, and he loves it. (playful) — 00:03:22 · DFTBA Records, Pizza John, Pizzamas
  • ★ Hank says Orin saw the Pizza John product and said it brings them the pizza. (playful) — 00:03:22 · Orin Green, Pizza John

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says that where there are cars, frogmouths often get hit because they fly toward bugs lit up by headlights. — video description
  • ★★ The description says Hank loves the pins from the Bizarre Beasts Pin Club, which is closed to new members to avoid overproducing pins. — video description
  • ★ The description thanks Birdlife Australia for footage and recommends its work making Australia good for native birds. — video description · Australia

Humor (significant)

  • Birds are smart but ravens are smarter; if only they had owl eyes. — 00:00:29

    “If ravens had eyes like owls, we would let them teach kindergarten.”

  • A baby frogmouth ticks every cute-brain box, which reveals something about Furbies. — 00:01:27

    “Furbies are infringing on the frogmouth trademark.”

  • Frogmouths build terrible nests and lose eggs and chicks. — 00:01:51

    “They often lose eggs or chicks to the perils of that surprise gravity.”

  • Hank presents the Pizza John Halloween mask for sale. — 00:03:22

    “This is the worst thing we've ever done. And I love it.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: frogmouth

Also: People: Orin Green

Projects: DFTBA Records · Pizzamas

Works: Pizza John Halloween mask

Terms: Pizza John

Concepts: camouflage · convergent evolution · cuteness · hummingbird · owl · raven · tawny frogmouth

Places: Australia

Products: Furby

Only in the description or credits: BirdLife Australia · Bizarre Beasts Pin Club · India

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