Jim, it seems to me that birds are able to do that, hold their heads steady as they move their bodies in different positions. That long, flexible neck facilitates that greatly. Watch a coot or pigeon moving and note their bobbing head. They are holding their head still, presumably for better vision, as the body moves under it.

Dennis Paulson
Seattle


> On Jul 27, 2024, at 12:41 PM, Jim Betz via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

> Hi,

>

> I've gone to Channel Drive (near La Conner) several times this week. I was attempting to

>

> get a picture of a swallow in flight and although a barely useful image it does show

>

> something I didn't know about. The swallow was making one of those tight, horizontal

>

> turns. The wings, tail, and body were all turned almost 90 degrees (think "vertical").

>

> But the HEAD was still locked in the normal/horizontal orientation. A subsequent

>

> photo of a flock of Western Sandpipers showed the same thing. Perhaps this is a

>

> common bird behavior that I just haven't noticed before? Fun!!! - Jim

>

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters