Tweets --

>Jane Stewart wrote:
>
>> A very good bird watcher once told me that swallows beat their wings
>> together and swifts alternate.

And Burt Guttman replied

>That's one of those old wives tales (if you'll pardon me for what is
>probably now a politically incorrect phrase) that should be have been
>expunged from biological folklore long ago.

I second Burt's opinion. I, too, have had the experience Jane had. It
sounded pretty strange and unbelievable when I first heard it, but it was
stated with a such a tone of authority that I had to consider whether that
person was right and my assumption was wrong. Then I reasoned that, if
swifts indeed beat their wings alternately, then they would probably be the
only group of birds to do so, and the fact would be so unique and
interesting that it would show up in the general literature read by
non-birders and beginners alike -- as in, which bird lays the largest egg,
etc. -- yet I had never heard of it in 27 years (then!) of birding. It
would be a biological bit of trivia usable on a game show such as
"Jeopardy."

Even trained eyes can be deceived by the interpreting gray cells behind them...

-- Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net