And for a bonus, what is the special reason a spoonbill's bill is shaped like a spoon?
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Armchair Birding IV
Congratulations Gregoire Blond, faithful follower of the Chada blog and winner of the prestigious award, Armchair Birdwatcher extraordinaire for part III.
Of the six possible species in Katavi, this one should be identifiable by its patterns if you have a good book.
And for a bonus, what is the special reason a spoonbill's bill is shaped like a spoon?
And for a bonus, what is the special reason a spoonbill's bill is shaped like a spoon?
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For the nightjar, I would guess the Fiery-necked. Thanks to the Terry Stevenson's Birds of East Africa...
ReplyDeleteFor the spoonbills, they are on the same feeding niche than flamingos: feeding on aquatic invertebrates in shallow water.
The spoon shape makes a larger surface area. They forage bill open in shallow water and snap shut the bill on prey when food is detected at the edge of the bill (using their sensory "lamellae")
Nightjars are hard! Try again, focusing on the wing patterns in Stevenson.
ReplyDeleteSpoonbill: cool information. Thanks. I have also read that a researcher added to the spoon shape idea, observing in a laboratory/captive setting that the back and forth movement of the bill makes little whirlpools that draw the food items toward the bill.
Square tailed?
ReplyDeleteIf not, here are my next guess:
Hyp 2: Eurasian Nighjar (but not the right season)
Hyp 3: Female Pennant-winged (but the rufous hindneck is missing )
Bingo! We think it's square tailed too. Thanks Gregoire.
ReplyDelete