[Tweeters] A new bird behavior discovery - for me

[Dennis Paulson via Tweeters]

Jim, it seems to me that birds are able to do that, hold their heads steady as they move their bodies in different positions. That long, flexible neck facilitates that greatly. Watch a coot or pigeon moving and note their bobbing head. They are holding their head still, presumably for better vision, as the body moves under it.

Dennis Paulson
Seattle


> On Jul 27, 2024, at 12:41 PM, Jim Betz via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> 

> Hi,

> 

>   I've gone to Channel Drive (near La Conner) several times this week.  I was attempting to

> 

> get a picture of a swallow in flight and although a barely useful image it does show

> 

> something I didn't know about.  The swallow was making one of those tight, horizontal

> 

> turns.  The wings, tail, and body were all turned almost 90 degrees (think "vertical").

> 

>   But the HEAD was still locked in the normal/horizontal orientation.  A subsequent

> 

> photo of a flock of Western Sandpipers showed the same thing. Perhaps this is a

> 

> common bird behavior that I just haven't noticed before?                     Fun!!!   - Jim

> 

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