I am curious: after years of seeing all sorts of shorebirds resting
on one foot, I realized that I really don't know why they often rest
that way. The one explanation I ran across suggested the behavior is
for heat regulation?important for birds that spend a lot of time
wading in cold water.

While recently watching the Marbled Godwits in Tokeland for a long
time, I noticed that when a godwit is resting on one foot, head and
bill tucked into its back feathers?but with eyes open?it can rotate
its body around in an arc and check on its surroundings. I had
always assumed they were essentially asleep when in this position,
but clearly they can be very aware. In fact, I wonder if the
rotating ability might make resting safer on one foot than on two feet.

Any ideas or observations?

Lee Rentz
lee at leerentz.com
Shelton, WA