Birders or Ornithologists: Explain this bird in flight photo
June 20, 2015 5:23 AM Subscribe
What happened just before and after this 1/4000th of a second of a swift's flight? Birds aren't planes so my guess of rapid clockwise rotation is probably wrong. Many swifts were feeding. Some would dive, level out along this wall then abruptly turn away. I'm not sure they were swifts, but other photos show the forked tail. Photo taken in Fes, Morocco.
I think you're being fooled by perspective. That bird isn't right next to the wall; it's a long way away from it. And it's beginning a powered bank to starboard, which is why the wings look uneven.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:26 AM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:26 AM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
If I'm not misunderstanding what's odd about the picture: It's either a photo from below, the bird is banking to its left, or both. The wings are each angled downward from its body, and its right wing is pointed more or less straight at the camera. Notice that the right wing casts a shadow on the white part of the bird's body that is close to parallel to the shadow on its left wing.
It's also not that close to the wall. I'm assuming those post holes are something like 4" across, and 8" long seems pretty large for a swift. Also, the bird looks out of focus and not blurred from movement to me.
posted by cmoj at 1:15 PM on June 21, 2015
It's also not that close to the wall. I'm assuming those post holes are something like 4" across, and 8" long seems pretty large for a swift. Also, the bird looks out of focus and not blurred from movement to me.
posted by cmoj at 1:15 PM on June 21, 2015
Response by poster: - The air was still.
- Who is being fooled by perspective? Me or nickggully?
- Who said the bird is next to the wall? It's traveling along the wall a few meters out. But that doesn't matter because, as stated in the questions, the birds were turning abruptly away from the wall.
- The photo is from below. It is out of focus. If it is a swift, it's much bigger than the swifts I know from Southern California - but the flight characteristics of feeding on flying insects at dusk is identical. None of these 3 matters to the flight.
- Like Chocolate Pickle, I see uneven wings. The left is pointing to the ground. the right is either folded parallel and close to it's body or it's extended. If extended, it's cocked toward it's tail, as seen by the tip near the tail of the bird while the tip of the left wing is near the birds center. Either way, that doesn't explain how the bird got into this attitude and what happened a moment later.
posted by Homer42 at 8:14 AM on June 23, 2015
- Who is being fooled by perspective? Me or nickggully?
- Who said the bird is next to the wall? It's traveling along the wall a few meters out. But that doesn't matter because, as stated in the questions, the birds were turning abruptly away from the wall.
- The photo is from below. It is out of focus. If it is a swift, it's much bigger than the swifts I know from Southern California - but the flight characteristics of feeding on flying insects at dusk is identical. None of these 3 matters to the flight.
- Like Chocolate Pickle, I see uneven wings. The left is pointing to the ground. the right is either folded parallel and close to it's body or it's extended. If extended, it's cocked toward it's tail, as seen by the tip near the tail of the bird while the tip of the left wing is near the birds center. Either way, that doesn't explain how the bird got into this attitude and what happened a moment later.
posted by Homer42 at 8:14 AM on June 23, 2015
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posted by nickggully at 5:48 AM on June 20, 2015