Hi tweets,

I have a couple of questions about a Hermit thrush which has been
frequenting my yard this last week. It has to do with the "tail bobbing"
behavior. All the books that I have seen say that the Hermit thrush is
the only North American thrush which has the habit of constantly raising
its tail, several times a minute. The Hermit thrushes which I saw
wintering back in St. Louis, all did this, but the bird in my yard is
not. This bird does, however, seem to have an uncontrollable leg
twitch. Its legs are in vertical motion, like its feet are stomping the
ground. The bird also does not carry him/herself in much of a horizontal
position. Instead, the bird often appears to have a knee lock, which at
time cause it to appear as if it is straining to achieve a vertical
carriage of its body.

Is this normal? A regional difference perhaps? Any thoughts or ideas?
Also, the sort of constant nervous twitch either in the tail or the leg,
does not seem to be evolutionarily desirable. One would think it would
waste a great deal of energy just in extraneous movement. Any thoughts
on that?


Michael Dossett
Shoreline, Washington
mpdossett at Juno.com

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