The kriskin, a common predatory bird in desert areas feeding principally on snakes, is, like many other predators of the region, mainly black in color.
The kriskin is a common, predatory New World ground cuckoo from the deserts of South America in the Posthomic period, 50 million AD, in After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
Most desert animals are sandy yellow in color to blend in with the surroundings and have white undersurfaces that counteract the effects of shade and give them a two-dimensional appearance. That this color scheme is the result of evolutionary pressure is a belief supported by the darker appearance of animals found on black-grey lava areas and the almost white forms of the same animals found in saltpan regions.
Animals that are not camouflaged are predominantly black. Predatory birds such as the kriskin, reptiles and the most poisonous and unpalatable arthropods fall into this category. The color resemblance may be due to a form of mimicry in which for some reason black is an advantageous color for certain predators, and all others adopt the same color to derive some similar benefit.