Well, the ducks are one
thing. With the ibis, they do have strong gripping feet, and often roost
in trees with thin twiggy branches.
I think the spoonbills are more
interesting. For the last 2 weeks before flying they ranged over the
nest-tree, sometimes gripping thin limbs and flapping – to exercise wings, apparently (see below). The clinging foot is an anchor while the flapping
wings maintain balance. If you held one of these birds I think you would
be surprised at how light it was. The bulk is mainly feathers. The other thing about the Morning of the Great
Fence-sitting was that it was extremely still, perfect conditions for
displaying the balancing gene. Female pink-ears are well aware of the
disadvantage of mating with an unbalanced drake.
N2j, evening before flying:
N1ja, performing on fence:
From: David Rosalky [
Sent: Wednesday, 28 January 2009 7:52 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Win yet another bet
Yesterday
when I was at Kellys, I saw a White Ibis doing the barbed wire thing. It
was very tentative and careful as one would expect and did not stay long.
It hopped onto the top of one of the star pickets holding up the barbed wire
which was not very comfortable either. So it retreated to a log.
Having
seen Geoffrey's photos, I assumed this was normal behaviour, if a bit stupid.
-----
Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, January 27,
2009 11:07 PM
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds]
Win yet another bet
A truly surprising set of pictures from Geoffrey. I'm pretty sure
I've never seen any of these birds perched on barbed-wire fences and
wouldn't expect it. Could this be all in one day? What drugs are they feeding
on? Or did someone remove all the trees?
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Geoffrey Dabb [
Sent: Monday, 26 January 2009 1:24 PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Win yet another bet
