During our discussion of cormorant wing spreading a few months ago, I never
dreamed that I would have a student who would conduct field research for
his senior thesis on this, but I guess that's the case. He's going to
watch Double-crested in the Tacoma area (possibly won't start until this
fall) to determine under exactly what conditions they spread or don't
spread their wings, and he's going to look at the fine structure and
wettability of the wing feathers of our 3 local species.

So if there is additional fact-finding or discussion of this, I'd
appreciate copies.

By the time the student finds out anything, I'll be back on tweeters, so
I'll keep you informed.

Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416