Sunday 4 November 2012

Isabelline Wheatear: odd pose/behaviour


Just been sorting out images for a talk that I'm giving and was reminded of this bird that I saw a few years ago.  A great bird, but I have always wondered about the wings-open pose: has anyone come across this behaviour before in this species?

4 comments:

Jem Babbington said...

chris,

I live in Saudi Arabia and see Isabelline Wheatear regularly. This pose is often taken up when the bird has found something to eat (grub etc) and it opens and spreads it wings a few times before taking the prey. I have seen them do it without the final outcome being eating but this is the time I have found that they do it regularly.

Cheers
Jem
www.birdsofsaudiarabia.com

Chris Gibbins said...

Hi Jem. Thanks a lot for this comment - makes perfect sense.....

Chris

Reg Hollis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hi Chris
The Fair Isle bird in '98 regularly used this pose when feeding. Added an additional distinctiveness to its behaviour
Phil