Benj - I understand
that that species of crane became extinct as the slightly enhanced level of alertness
did not compensate for the disadvantage of the broken foot.
The other interesting species
from this viewpoint is the below (young bird shown). I believe the
holding foot is usually the left one. Sometimes as here the bird braces
the food against the grounded holding foot while extracting the pith, but the dominant
foot, if that _expression_ can be used, might be the foot on which the bird
relies for balance. g
From: Whitworth, Benjamin - BRS
[
Sent: Friday, 26 February 2010 11:14 AM
To: Geoffrey Dabb
Cc:
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] RE: 3 food preferences at the Narrabundah
shops #2 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Although,, I was watching an interesting doco about a famous
painting the other day, cant remember the name. Anyway, there was a crane in
the background. The presenter said that Cranes were a symbol of vigilance in
greek mythology. The legend goes that the cranes have one foot on the perch,
and in the other foot they hold a rock. So if they fall asleep, the rock falls
and hits the standing foot, thus waking the crane up.
Taking that ‘one step further’ heh heh, my throwing
hand is my right hand. I am right handed. And as cockatoos often seem to be
throwing twigs and branches at me, you could say that the foot being held up is
their footedness.
Benj
