More Random Stuff 7/9

What a great day today was.

I love my new go pro.

The Sun was shining, Bob Dylan was playing in the background. And my Kookaburra’s were ready to play.

I got some great photos, a couple of cool vids, and oh yeah, beat the You Tubes policy on copyright policy (more on the copyright thing later).

How accurate are these guys when landing. 6 photos, 6 landings.

 

This video is a slow motion video of all 6 landings.
7 landings        

Now for my You Tube copyright issue.

While filming Boss on my hand, Bob Dylans “Rainy Day Woman” was playing in the background.

I had Boss moving to the tune!

Because Bob was playing in the background the video was disallowed (copyright infringement).

I was able to re-post it with a “cover” of Bob’s song (pretty good interpretation I think).

This is Boss dancing to Bob
Dancing Kookaburra        

Time to keep a Level Head

Kookaburra Head Tracking

 

 

Brave Baby Burra

 

 

 

Soon after my hand feeding started, I made a discovery that blew me away.

I found I could wobble them, move them up, down, back, forth & their head never moves – it remained motionless. Regardless of what their body was doing, their head never moved. I found this amazing.

An example of evolutionary adaptation.

When looking up at them perched high up in the trees, with branches swaying, it is obvious to see why the modification.

What I didn’t know until I googled it, is that birds can’t move their eyes. Unlike us, when we move our head, our eyes move to stay focused (I love google). So Kookaburra need their head to remain stationary to stay focused.

This is called “Head Tracking”

In this slow motion vid of Bitey Burra, notice when landing his head never moves. It remains completely locked on his landing, even though his body & wings are going in all directions.

Kookaburra Head Tracking - Bitey Burra in slow motion        

 

And, it’s not all birds that have this ability. Some species have it, others don’t.

Cats have this ability as well.

This vid is of Brave baby Burra sitting on my hand when it's moving.

kookaburra head tracking #2

Wikipedia has some interesting stuff on bird vision.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_vision