Xref: utzoo rec.birds:2447 sci.misc:4348 sci.bio:3338 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!rice!uw-beaver!ubc-cs!alberta!ccu!eeserv.ee.umanitoba.ca!yackob From: yackob@eeserv.ee.umanitoba.ca (Kerry Yackoboski) Newsgroups: rec.birds,sci.misc,sci.bio Subject: Re: HEAD JERKING OF WALKING BIRDS Message-ID: <1990Jul26.181953.17452@ccu.umanitoba.ca> Date: 26 Jul 90 18:19:53 GMT References: <1990Jul25.021150.14574@ddsw1.MCS.COM> Sender: news@ccu.umanitoba.ca Organization: Dept. Electrical Engineering, U of Manitoba Lines: 37 In article <1990Jul25.021150.14574@ddsw1.MCS.COM> arf@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Jack Schmidling) writes: > HEAD JERKING OF WALKING BIRDS > > I don't know what group this subject was recently discussed > in, so if I missed it, please let me know. > There were a number of theories as to why walking birds move > their head forward and back in synch with footsteps. > I kidnapped a dove nestling and hand raised it for the > purpose of confusing the rec.bird newsgroup's indoor/outdoor > business. > > Well, it has been most interesting. The bird was released > several weeks ago and seems equally at home outside or > inside. Some nights it sleeps outside, others on the back > porch. Right now, as I type, it is sitting on my head. > > Not only does this bird jerk its head while walking, but it > jerks its head when I walk, with the bird sitting on my > finger. > > What is most interesting about this behavior is that he only > does it when looking in the direction that I am walking. If > he faces me or the direction from which we are coming, his > head does not move. I have held him out at arms length to > make sure it wasn't just my body, close to him, that was > filling his field of view. > Might it be that the bird sees motion better than still objects, and when it is walking forward (or when you are walking it) it wants maximum vision? Could it be an attempt to emulate Chuck? :-) -- Kerry Yackoboski The Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Laboratory in the Cellar U of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada