Yes, very cool. Hard to beat that Kingfisher's prowess.
I first 'discovered' this phenomenon when taking photos of our Spotted
Sandpiper, a notorious 'bobber'. In this case of *'BackField in Motion'
the* head is stationary while the rest of the body handles the bobbing. 2
Photos: (skip the advertisement).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/159695762 at N07/53887910346/in/dateposted-public/
Bob OBrien Portland

On Sat, Jul 27, 2024 at 5:23 PM Nagi Aboulenein via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> There are some amazing videos online, of Kingfishers holding their heads

> perfectly steady, while their perch is being pushed around by the wind.

> Here's a link to one of them:

>

> https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YpIm39GHeLw

>

>

> -;

> Nagi Aboulenein

>

>

> On Saturday, Jul 27, 2024 at 16:44, Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> 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

>

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