birding-aus

Re: birding-aus Neck-swaying White-faced Hero

To: James Davis <>, Birding-aus <>
Subject: Re: birding-aus Neck-swaying White-faced Hero
From: Jill Dening <>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 12:06:17 +1000
  BTW,
>would you like to venture a guess why the heron's face is white?

Jim,

Sorry, I have been out of computer reach these past days. Like Anne Green,
I first favoured the notion that the broken colours of the face make it
hard for prey to discern a predator from below the waterline. However, I
can also come up with counter-arguments to this:

For instance, if this is in fact a plausible theory,
1.      why do more birds, which hunt in this manner, not have broken
colours? e.g. the Jabiru must pose a clearly discernible outline from
within the water.
2.      why is the neck coloured in unbroken grey, when the bird would be
better off with total camoflage? Why camoflage one part, when the neck -
and body - would be so obvious?

Already I can think of counter-arguments to my counter arguments (like some
species becoming more successful food gatherers than others, as a result of
their camoflage, leading to greater breeding success). However, I sometimes
have my doubts about reasons attributed to why birds have certain features.

What do YOU think?

Cheers,

jill

Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Qld

26º 51'         152º 56'


To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to

Include ONLY "unsubscribe birding-aus" in the message body (without the
quotes)

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU