canberrabirds

Those painted-snipe

To: <>
Subject: Those painted-snipe
From: "Geoffrey Dabb" <>
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:45:07 +1100

Haven’t seen those painted-snipe for a few days.  Maybe gone.  Reflecting on the views offered when they were here, I am struck by the unusual butterfly-like quality of the wings.  In the below, you might thing I have flipped the images, but they show the extended left wing (L) and right wing (R).  Therefore the elaborate pattern of the left forewing is completely obscured when the wing is folded (right and below).  Coloured arrows indicate roughly what I take to be the corresponding parts of the wing, eg the yellow arrow shows the ‘vermiculated’ parts  (are they ‘secondary coverts’).  One wonders what purpose is served by this pattern  -  perhaps the enhancing of the bluff display, perhaps something related to reproduction (although this is a female).  The green arrow shows the rear-looking eye, giving 360 vision  -  a capacity lost with the kind of wing extension shown on the right.  

 

<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 Canberra Ornithologists Group 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 list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU