As I was wandering through the Roma Street Parklands (close to the Brisbane CBD) I came across a family of Pacific Black Ducks in an artificial rainforest gully – there is a concrete cascade with a 30 cm vertical jump ups. There were some week old ducklings in the cascade section. One was at the bottom, while its siblings were in the upper section. From a standing start, the duckling leapt up the 30 cm to the next level. Leaping up is not an activity you see often from birds. Flying yes. Walking yes. Running yes. Jumping down yes. Leaping up? I’ve seen footage of penguins “jumping” out of the water onto the ice (from a swimming start), and I’ve seen ducks hopping out of the water, but I’ve never seen a bird jump up three times its body length. I doubt there would be many people who could jump onto a ledge above their body height and land on their feet from a standing start without using their hands. (The people who jump up more than their height have a run up and they don’t land on their feet. People who jump three times their height are using a long pole to lever themselves up). Are there any birds that have a noticeable capacity to jump up? Regards, Laurie.
Good point. I guess it is a bit like the catapults on the aircraft carriers, or submarine launched missiles. It would be interesting to see high speed movie footage of a quail taking to flight – how far does it jump up before its wings take over? Regards, Laurie. On 21/12/2013, at 9:34 PM, Philip Veerman wrote:
The chicken was making a ‘spy-hop’ to see where the others had got to. Quickest way to find out. Hares and jack-rabbits are said to do this, and some antelope. Anthea Fleming On 22/12/2013 2:11 PM, Ronda Green wrote:
I saw a domestic chicken jump last week, but not for a practical goal. About 2 weeks old, it suddenly realised its mum and siblings had left it behind while busily pecking at crushed grain. It leapt about twice its height, wings outstretched, peeping, and with tiny wings still out like a child playing aeroplanes, started frantically running after them. Ronda Green, BSc(Hons) PhD Araucaria Ecotours (advanced eco-certification on all tours) http://www.learnaboutwildlife.com platypuscorner@bigpond.com ph 61 7 5544 1283 Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AraucariaEcotours Araucaria Blog: http://araucariaecotours.com.au Chair Wildlife Tourism Australia: http://wildlifetourism.org.au Chair Scenic Rim Wildlife: http://scenicrim.wildlife.org.au/ Adjunct research fellow, Environmental Futures Centre, Griffith University
My chooks jump up to their perches every night. There is a small amount of wing assistance involved, but, essentially, it’s a jump. Paul Osborn
Penguins at their nesting colonies do jump up rocks etc to get to their “nests”, perhaps because they can’t fly, but it wouldn’t be anything more than maybe half to one times their height I think, especially when they are returning to feed chicks, although it’s amazing watching them get from the sea up steep rocky slopes while being regularly wave-washed! What about other flightless birds? On 21/12/2013, at 11:00 PM, Carl Clifford < carlsclifford@gmail.com> wrote:
Floricans? Cranes? (although they use their wings at the same time) however many birds jump up as the initial part of getting airborne. Allan Richardson On 21/12/2013, at 9:55 PM, Laurie Knight wrote:
I think that you will find that the only birds that can jump to the extent that you are talking about, are the young of precocial species and then only when they are very young. Older young of precocial species run into a sort of diminishing returns situation, where, as their mass grows, the degree of musculature required to lift their bodies increases and the more muscle they produce, the higher their mass etc etc. Certainly, some birds can jump with the assistance of their wings, such as in Bustards, Cranes and Sage Grouse etc. in display, but that is not from a standing start. After all, why jump when you can fly. Cheers, Carl Clifford
Most ground living flying birds jump up as a start to each flight. Many ducks do too. Some perching birds do also. Sure that is not very dramatic and that is up to you whether you call that “a noticeable capacity”. Many years ago when I kept finches and quails I confined the father King Quail to a wooden cage when he was being aggressive to new chicks. That proved his doom when my father came around the corner and looked at him closely and he got frightened and jumped up and either broke his neck or smashed his head on the wooden roof of the cage and died in a shaking mess almost instantly. That tells me that King Quails are capable of very powerful jumps. I suspect that is a common thing of things like quail, and consistent with the way they fly off so quickly in the wild. After that I padded the roof of the cage. Philip
Perhaps. I’m sure people could jump equivalent heights if they were structured for jumping like grasshoppers. My question remains. What other birds have a noticeable capacity to jump up? Regards, Laurie On 21/12/2013, at 11:03 AM, Paul Osborn wrote:
Laurie, Young ducks only weigh a few grams, so the effort needed to lift them 30cm is nowhere near what a person would need to jump an equivalent height. Paul Osborn —–Original Message—– Sent: Friday, December 20, 2013 6:03 PM As I was wandering through the Roma Street Parklands (close to the Brisbane CBD) I came across a family of Pacific Black Ducks in an artificial rainforest gully – there is a concrete cascade with a 30 cm vertical jump ups. There were some week old ducklings in the cascade section. One was at the bottom, while its siblings were in the upper section. From a standing start, the duckling leapt up the 30 cm to the next level. Leaping up is not an activity you see often from birds. Flying yes. Walking yes. Running yes. Jumping down yes. Leaping up? I’ve seen footage of penguins “jumping” out of the water onto the ice (from a swimming start), and I’ve seen ducks hopping out of the water, but I’ve never seen a bird jump up three times its body length. I doubt there would be many people who could jump onto a ledge above their body height and land on their feet from a standing start without using their hands. (The people who jump up more than their height have a run up and they don’t land on their feet. People who jump three times their height are using a long pole to lever themselves up). Are there any birds that have a noticeable capacity to jump up? Regards, Laurie.