Flying in the wind
Posted by Laurel Zitowitz on October 15, 2007
Q: I was hiking across a dam and saw mountain bluebirds perching on shrubs. Then they flew up high in the air, facing the wind. It was hard to tell if they were just flapping their wings or spinning around. It really seemed to me that they were "playing" in the wind. Can you explain this behavior??
Laurel
Habitat: field/meadow
State: Colorado
Habitat: field/meadow
A: Playing is a loaded word - most adult animals do not spend more energy than necessary in a given activitiy although what can be considered "play" isn't always agreed upon by everyone. But it sounds to me that your bluebirds were probably flycatching. I can't be sure but bluebirds are known to catch insects on the wing and I'm wondering if this is what they were doing - maybe some kind of insect swarm that they were tapping into? Sorry I can't give you a definite answer but hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( October 16, 2007)