Rhynchokinesis

I was watching this Long-billed Curlew while waiting for the sun to peek through some clouds in the east and for it to burn off the haze. The Curlew had been preening and making some movements so I took a few images when I thought there might be some thing interesting even though I knew with the available light I would probably not get any keepers.

I was pleased when I previewed this image that I captured the curlew in the act of Rhynchokinesis, the ability of some birds to flex thier upper mandible.

Rhynchokinesis is seen in cranes, some shorebirds, swifts and hummingbirds.

This was an interesting behavior shot I thought I would share and wondered if any one else had images of Rhynchokinesis that they would like to share.

That's a good word to keep in mind for scrabble. I definately have never heard of it before, nor have I ever seen the behavior, but this is an excellent shot showing it off. Thanks for sharing.

Lia, this is cool. Yes, I have seen this in cranes, but only once. Thanks for sharing this.

Dang, that's pretty neat Lia. A heckuva interesting word, a nice tidbit to add to my avian knowledge and a perfect post for this new forum. Thanks.

Addendum: Could Howard Cheek's hummer post today be another example of this?

Ron,

I'm not sure if Howard Cheek's recent hummer post is an example of Rhynchokinesis or if the bill is just opened because of the angle of the shot posted.

I am hoping we will see other examples of it though, I think I have a few more in my files but locating them may take awhile.

thanks for the excellent info Lia. I hope more images such as these capturing bird behavior are posted in the avian gallery.

Thats an excellent example of the behaviour Lia - the length of the Curlew's bill really shows it off well! I have few examples from smaller shorebirds, like this Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Mark, that is an excellent example of Rhynchokinesis, thanks so much for posting it!

Here's my contribution; an image I posted in Avian back in May of 2007 of a Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) at the Gilbert Water Ranch. It was the first time I'd noticed that hummingbirds did this.

Rich, that is a fantastic example! Love how it is about 1/4 of the tip of the bill.

This is exciting, I can't wait to see what might be posted next.

After reading a definition on Wikipedia, I believe this is an example of the "downward" Rhynchokinesis where a gap opens between the upper and lower while the tip stays closed. Shot this back in January and posted it in Avian that month without noticing - or realizing what it was.

- Luke

As I was going through my files I found another example of a bird's bill looking odd. Thought I would add it to this post.

Sorry about the crappy image quality, the light was low, it was raining when this image was taken and this bird was not the primary subject.