Neat. In the middle of a hot day, when the female won’t mind leaving the nest for a few moments after you disturb her, you could cut off the little twig between the camera and the nest.
Forget about computer science, Mike, I think you have the soul of a biologist, deep down inside.
Birds often scratch their head with their feet. The exact way they do it is the same within a species, but varies from species to species. Some species do it with the foot under the wing (or with the wing closed in its normal position) and some do it with the foot over the wing (with the wing lowered). Obviously robins are the “over the wing†type. As far as I know, it’s still a mystery why species vary this way.
One interesting hypothesis: doing it under the wing allows head scratching while in flight, so maybe that type of head scratching developed in species that fly a lot. Robins don’t spend a lot of time in flight, so I’m not surprised that they scratch over the wing rather than under.
I love being schooled by Stephan.
Also, how can science even dare to attempt a landing on Mars when they do
not even know why birds scratch themselves?!
It's not surprising that dogs and robins kinda scratch themselves the same way because, you see, they were designed by the same Guy (*).
A
(*) don't use this quote against me, okay? -- in case you don't know my low-key sense of humor.
More schooling for you, Mike : Birds do not have sweat glands. Water evaporation can still help them cool off, though: they circulate air quickly inside their throat (hence the open beak) and that evaporates the water that covers their throat.
This is also why dogs and cows pant when they’re hot, and why crows walking on lawns in the sun have their beak open in summer, but not in the fall.
They’re will be a test about all this, Wednesday night before the regular game session at the FHG…
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