Ron Dudley's Left-footed Owl

Ron Dudley made an interesting observation in his recent Short-eared Owl post in the Avian Critique Galleries.

I found it interesting that in the 8-10 times I photographed him with a different vole in his talons, without exception he always carried it in his left talon.

This got me interested in whether birds exhibit "handedness" like we do. I did a quick search on SORA -http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/search.php - a great resource, and found the following:

“birds of prey tend to hold and carry food in the left foot"

[From: “Left-Handedness” in Parrots. Auk, 55:3 Friedmann and Davis. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v070n01/p0092-p0093.pdf]

And,

“Foot preference has been noted during substrate scratching, string pulling, feeding, or handling nesting material in 26 avian species representing six families (Columibdae, Falconidae, Strigidae [OWLS--BG], Psittacidae, Paridae, and Fringillidae).”

[From: Seed Manipulation by Clark’s Nutcracker, Condor 85:3 Bunch, Sullivan, and Tomback http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v085n03/p0372-p0373.pdf]

Thanks to Ron for mentioning this--I learned something new about birds today.

Thanks Brian, for doing the leg work on this. I think this is as interesting as you do. I plan on paying a lot more attention to this in the future, especially with raptors with prey. So often in the past I haven't taken the shot of a raptor flying with prey when they're too far away for a quality shot. Now I'll take the shot just for documentation and curiosity's sake.

I can't believe that in four days of watching that Short-eared Owl carry voles to the female that I never noticed that he always carried them with his left talon only. I only picked up on it in reviewing the images.

Here's the shot that got me to thinking about it in the first place. I think it was because of the angle of the owl and that the foot positions showed so clearly.

Thanks Brian, for doing the leg work on this.

Pun intended?

Not when I wrote it Luke but I did notice it on review. Decided to leave it in but should have edited it into quotes...

Fascinating behavior, and great job Brian on the research. I like the pun-intended or not!

Great observation, Ron and good research, Brian. Now that I'm aware of it, I'll keep my eyes open for it in other species as well.

Interesting topic. I reviewed all of my RAW images of Harriers with prey. Often they carry with both feet and perhaps more often in one. There was no discernible pattern of left foot vs right.

Is it possible they carry it in the left foot because they are RIGHT handed? Maybe they leave their best foot ready for defense or other uses such as a successful landing.