The LinkedIn illustration mightiness beryllium up-to-date, but not the illustration picture. The jawline mightiness not beryllium arsenic well-defined successful world arsenic successful the show picture. Usually, the quality betwixt world and practice goes unnoticed unless the idiosyncratic has developed a bald pate overnight. But if 1 belonged to the Aves people of Kingdom Animalia, the day of the “display picture” would matter, immoderate birds shedding their “look” arsenic often arsenic clouds alteration their shapes. Some taxon are known for “makeovers” arsenic dramatically antithetic arsenic those assumed by a Kamal Haasan and successful the occidental movie world, a Daniel Day-Lewis.
The frequence of makeovers depends connected a vertebrate species’ breeding cycles. Waterbirds and birds that synchronise their breeding cycles with rains could deterioration their breeding plumage much often if the showers get oftener.
“There is thing deliberate astir it,” says ornithologist V. Santharam, “they are programmed to breed erstwhile the perfect conditions are present, their gonadal morphology changing successful effect to the availability of resources. Birds are opportunistic not by choice, but their biology. And South West Monsoon being much fruitful successful presumption of rains successful Chennai, galore waterbirds indispensable beryllium making the astir of that situation.”

A pheasant tailed jacana among lilies astatine an inundated portion of backstage onshore successful a residential neighbourhood successful Perumbakkam connected July 28, 2025. | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
Conversely, erstwhile the perfect conditions are absent astatine a clip they are expected, that would beryllium mirrored by gonadal morphology, it being underdeveloped. Birds could skip a breeding rhythm connected relationship of an unhelpful environment.

Pheasant tailed jacana recovered astatine a residential locality successful Perumbakkam connected July 29 and 30, 2025. The h2o that has filled up vacant plots connection lilies which are a favoured vegetation for the pheasant tailed jacana. The vertebrate is called “lily trotter” for the easiness with which its hops crossed floating lily pads. | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
In Chennai, waterbirds and birds whose breeding cycles beryllium connected rains are apt to beryllium making much “babies” now, arsenic successful caller years, the South West monsoon has been much productive than before.
Even extracurricular of the monsoons, determination person been showers — 1 noticed it successful April (when a thunderstorm happened) and May this twelvemonth successful Chennai. On relationship of predominant showers, waterbirds would beryllium raising much clutches. One tin get a consciousness of that from definite taxon that enactment connected dramatically antithetic plumage erstwhile they are breeding, by however often they are togged up successful these feathers.
The Pheasant-tailed jacana tin peculiarly beryllium seen slipping into breeding plumage much frequently.

8 months ago
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