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![newscientist Avatar](https://lunarcrush.com/gi/w:24/cr:twitter::19658826.png) New Scientist [@newscientist](/creator/twitter/newscientist) on x 4.4M followers
Created: 2025-07-24 08:40:34 UTC

Painters often prime a canvas with a layer of white to make it smoother, stronger and to enhance the colours they will later layer on, but it seems this is a mechanism that birds were using long before humans picked up paintbrushes.

![](https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1948127448458997761/_zfsGzj2?format=jpg&name=800x419)

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[Post Link](https://x.com/newscientist/status/1948302273244692852)