birding-aus

Re: Foot tapping feeding behaviour in waders

To: "Geering, Andrew" <>
Subject: Re: Foot tapping feeding behaviour in waders
From: James Davis <>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 10:16:49 +1000 (EST)
Andrew:  
  For the record I observed Masked Lapwings rapidly shaking one of their 
feet (left and right) in short grass.  After the performance they often
would grab an item (presumably prey).  I have only witnessed this
behaviour on one occasion - two adults and two juvenile foraging together
in a group. I am intersted in learning if foot-shaking is instinctive
or learned - given that related birds perform similar, if not identical
behaviours, I currently believe the action has a strong innate component.
However, I would not rule out the possibility that birds can learn to
modify foot-shaking to fit particular circumstances such as tapping vs.
shaking.

Cheers, Jim 

 Dr. Wm. James Davis
e-mail 



<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 birding-aus 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 archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU