I believe that mostly passerines bring their feet forward when flying (flexed
at the ankle) although I don't think many would also hide their feet in the
plumage (like that photo shows). Whereas mostly, non-passerines point their
feet backwards in flight (extended at the ankle). Of course the latter is
generally only obvious in big birds like waders, hawks, sea birds etc. I don't
know of an exception but I am sure there would be......
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Con Boekel
Sent: Monday, 28 December 2015 5:01 PM
To: canberrabirds chatline
Subject: On topic - but still on legs: retractable undercarriages in Fairy
Martins
This morning I went to Forde Creek but found it to be, visually, crakeless.
Deciding there was no use railing about this state of affairs, I started
trying to take some piccies of the Fairy Martin aerialists in the vicinity.
One of the results is attached. When I studied the image, I noticed for the
first time that the Fairy Martins tuck their legs under their feathers during
flight. The legs cannot be seen.
regards
Con
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