Is this behavior known in the literature? Does anyone know? Thanks, Joe Roller, Denver
On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 1:59 PM, Mike Henwood <[email protected]> wrote: > > Yesterday my son and I hiked down into Roubideau Canyon on the Old > Transfer Bike Trail #251 off the Transfer Road out of Montrose. We saw a > Common Poorwill, which are ground nesters, just ahead of us on the ground > as we descended down a long sloping portion of the trail. The female was > quivering, wings fluttering, and for a moment had me believing the she was > really hurt and we were going to pick her up. But as we approached to less > than 5 yards, the bird fluttered pitifully just a few yards away. It did > this several times, putting on quite a show feigning injury. Then it > started to fly moth like a little further ahead of us on the trail. After > several of these forays and about 75 yards from the original spot, the > female poorwill took flight down below the trail and circled back to the > original location with no trouble flying. Wish I had the foresight to have > my son follow the poorwill down the trail while I stayed at the original > spot - may have been able to locate the nest. > > Knew the bird was a Common Poorwill as it showed a large head, white > throat, and speckled gray and brown body with no distinct pattern while > sitting on the ground. When the bird fluttered and flew a short distance, > the gray front of the wing with brown primary and secondary feathers was > quite obvious. A male poorwill has noticeable white corners on the tail, > while this bird (and females in general) have buffier tail tips that are > not near as obvious. Anyway, I'm nominating this bird for an "Academy > Award" for the best female actress of the year - Killdeers are a distant > second. > > We were descending down a long trail that had been an old road at one > time. Elevation was about 8,000 feet. The upper side of the trail was > woodland pinyon/juniper, while the habitat below the trail was Mountain > Shrub with serviceberry, mountain mahogany, and some scrub oak. > > Mike Henwood > Grand Junction > Mesa County > hiking in Montrose County > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAL4VesrFMRn1ERFSCZ6XnihKXiRMYeR2XGP7mCBdq8h78J5rfA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAL4VesrFMRn1ERFSCZ6XnihKXiRMYeR2XGP7mCBdq8h78J5rfA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJpZcUBJgBgWSg_wYdkNpz92xNHQutmaubTFnpnt%3DVZyK55oPw%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
