Hi Phil,
Looks like the back end of a grasshopper to me. It looks like one of the
slender species, the gaping section at the end representing the reproductive
parts, the flap section closer to the birds bill, the small growing wings
suggesting the animal was at one of the nymph stages of growth. Most birds eat
prey items very close to where they've caught them unless they they are a
species that has a favoured anvil (e.g. Pittas) or butchering site (e.g.
Butcherbirds) to deal with their prey. When a bird carries a food item any
distance it usually indicates the feeding of a mate or chicks. In this case,
I'd suggest that the Emu-wren is feeding chicks and is on the way to their
location. As such, the absence of legs is no real issue, since parent birds
often prepare prey items for chicks by taking the legs off insects like
grasshoppers or the wings off moth species.
Kind Regards
Allan Richardson
Morisset, NSW
On 08/01/2012, at 5:00 AM, Philip Griffin wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Whilst at Cheynes Beach (SW WA) recently a friend and I took some photos
> of a male Southern Emu-wren on top of a bush.
> Subsequent examination of his photos show some sort of food
> in the bill.
>
> I've uploaded one of his photos to
>
> http://tinyurl.com/emu-wren
>
> in case anyone here has an idea what the prey item might be.
> I think I've ruled out Aardvark and Tapir so far, but could perhaps
> be persuaded otherwise...
>
> Many thanks
>
> Philip
>
>
>
> Philip Griffin
> philipgriffin at gmail dot com
> Auckland, New Zealand
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