Geoff Price wrote:
> Whilst reading an article by D. Goodwin in Emu 66 (pp 237-51), I encountered
> a new word. The article was entitled "Notes on Behaviour of some Australian
> Birds", and, in reference to the White-browed Babbler, he says: 'When
> probing in crevices of bark and elsewhere it did not appear to "zirkeln"'.
[snip]
> What on earth does "zirkeln" mean?
A friend of mine suggested the zirkeln means "circles" in German, and an
on-line translator agreed. This didn't make a lot of sense. However, I
did
find this reference which does make sense:
http://zoo.ufl.edu/Courses/pcb5415/pages/glossT_Z.html
Zirkeln (prying movements). A feeding movement for birds in which
the bird
inserts its beak in a crevice in the ground, e.g., between grass
roots
or under the bark of trees, and then forcefully opens the beak
thus
expanding the hole and increasing its access to worms and
insects.
Conspicuous in starlings.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Paul Taylor Veni, vidi, tici -
I came, I saw, I ticked.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
