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In
case anyone was wondering, my message would have been clearer with a full stop,
instead of a comma:
"Treecreepers have syndactylous toes, a unique feature
among passerines. Parrots, owls, .........."
To
clarify: David is correct. Treecreepers have syndactylous toes, a unique feature
among passerines, parrots, owls, cuckoos & some others have zygodactylous
toes. Syndactyl is when the 3 forward toes are joined, that is not separate from
the base. Zygodactyl is two toes forward and two back (not
joined). Sittellas have normal passerine toes.
Philip
I don’t think any passerines are
zygodactyls John. Parrots & co. but not
passerines.
David
Rosalky
From: John
Layton [
Sent: Thursday, 7 August 2014
4:02 PM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Birds at
Boot Hill
Mid morning
today we stopped off at Hall cemetery which often produces a few avian
highlights viz: A snap-crackle-and-pop sound drew our attention to a super-sized
bowl of Rice Bubbles ... no, something’s not right here, read pair of Grey
Currawongs pulling bark from a small eucalyptus tree. A moment later they were
driven off by a pair of Pied Currawongs. We saw about seven Varied Sittellas
moving down a tree trunk.
I seem to
remember that in the not too distant past there was discussion about
zygodactyls, and it came out that tree creepers are zygodactyls (I think). This
leads me to ask if their fellow bark-travellers, sittellas, are too, albeit they
travel in the opposite direction. Have done a quick check of our books but am
still unclear.
Also a pair of
Australian Ravens nest building, one carried what appeared to be sheep’s wool,
but when a small tuft fell we found it was a rather tough synthetic material
maybe the stuffing from a car seat.
Now, for the
real attention grabber. A Pied Butcher moved rapidly across the ground about 15
metres from where we stood. It scurried along for a good 30 metres before flying
off in the direction of the village. We drove to Hall and searched around for
some 15 minutes but to no avail.
John K.
Layton
Holt
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