As I was wandering through the Roma Street Parklands (close to the
Brisbane CBD) I came across a family of Pacific Black Ducks in an
artificial rainforest gully - there is a concrete cascade with a 30 cm
vertical jump ups. There were some week old ducklings in the cascade
section. One was at the bottom, while its siblings were in the upper
section. From a standing start, the duckling leapt up the 30 cm to
the next level.
Leaping up is not an activity you see often from birds. Flying yes.
Walking yes. Running yes. Jumping down yes. Leaping up? I've seen
footage of penguins "jumping" out of the water onto the ice (from a
swimming start), and I've seen ducks hopping out of the water, but
I've never seen a bird jump up three times its body length.
I doubt there would be many people who could jump onto a ledge above
their body height and land on their feet from a standing start without
using their hands. (The people who jump up more than their height
have a run up and they don't land on their feet. People who jump
three times their height are using a long pole to lever themselves up).
Are there any birds that have a noticeable capacity to jump up?
Regards, Laurie.
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