Hi Tweeterland,

I have two questions for you:

1) How do you pronounce _Aythya_, the genus name for Scaups, Pochards,
Canvasbacks, and so on?


Yesterday, while talking to someone about Gannets _Sula bassana_, he
mentionned that once he went to Bonaventure Island (Quebec) and saw the
Gannets elongating their neck before take off from the colony.
I told him that this behavior was aimed at informing the neighbors that
the bird was about to take, so as not to generate a panic.
The guy told me that this was not the explanation that he got when he was
there: he was then told that the birds were "swallowing" more oxygen
before taking off is a demanding activity for such big birds having to take
off virtually vertically.
So my question is:

2) why do Gannets "elongate" their necks before take off from a colony?


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Serge Le Huitouze Intelligent Software Group
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