birding-aus

Bush Stone-Curlew having a lie down

To: "'Dickson'" <>, "'Birding-Aus'" <>
Subject: Bush Stone-Curlew having a lie down
From: "Debra Saxon-Campbell" <>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 16:38:51 +1100

Tim et al

 

I saw this behaviour in a family of magpies near my home in Williamstown (Melbourne) early last year. At least two were lying on their sides while another one was lying on its back with its legs dangling in the air. Like you, we initially thought we had come across injured birds, but they all jumped up and ran away when we drew near. We had clearly disturbed a family having a quiet kip in the early morning sunshine. It made me think of the Gary Larsson cartoons (Sigh! I wish he’d come out of retirement!) featuring various animals and birds in what are typically human postures/situations before quickly reverting back to the norm when the humans appear on the scene.

 

Cheers

Debra Campbell

Melbourne

 

 


From: [ On Behalf Of Dickson
Sent: Monday, 30 January 2006 3:37 PM
To: Birding-Aus
Subject: [BIRDING-AUS] Bush Stone-Curlew having a lie down

 

I'd never seen a bird actually lying down before, until recently. I was a James Cook University in Townsville and I passed a group of 4 Bush Stone-Curlews outside the Biological Sciences buildings - 2 adults and 2 fledged young which had a few wisps of down remaining on their otherwise adult plumage. One of the young was lying down. Have a look at the link below to see what I mean.

 

 

I thought it might be injured but it got up and walked away when I came to within a few metres. About half an hour later I passed the family again and one of the chicks was again lying down. Maybe it just found this posture comfortable? I know I do :)

 

Tim Dickson

Townsville

<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