Hi:
Bill length is not a factor, from what I understand "most" shorebirds and
their relatives "Charadriformes" have this ability. Many of the bills we
see as hard sticks or shovels are actually very flexible tools. I do not
know the exact evolutionary development of bills ( I do know it is
fascinating) , but the shorebirds are well equipped to quickly grasp food
sources or filter feed. This is a topic for a Wayne or Joel to explain to
us :).
Bob Archer
pdx
On Sun, Feb 28, 2016 at 10:38 PM, Priscilla Sokolowski <
priscillanhk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Matt;
That photo is a riot!
And thank you for mentioning this remarkable ability of some of the
shorebirds,
to flex these long bills like this. I had only heard about this myself in
the last year sometime, and still do not know how many long-billed bird
species can do this.
Priscilla
On Sun, Feb 28, 2016 at 6:28 PM, Matthew G Hunter <
matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Folks,
I'm going through some of my photos over the last few years and adding
them to my eBird checklists. I ran across this one and thought I would
share it with you. Many of you may not know that at least some shorebirds
can actually change the shape of their bills somewhat, and some (most?) can
open just the tip to grab something. Although I've seen them do this a
dozen times over the last several decades, I don't remember on which
species (though it seems mostly dowitchers). The one in the photo at the
link below I imagine is probably in ecstasy as it scratches an itch near
its ear with its foot. To see additional photos of the same bird with its
normally shaped bill, there is a link at the page below to the eBird
checklist, which has more photos.
http://tinyurl.com/htjz4bj
Matt Hunter
Melrose, OR
