I've been meaning to post this for a month, but kept forgetting.
I'm sure lots of us have seen birds, especially raptors, flying and thought, 'They're just doing that because it's fun'.
Last month, I caught these two Long-tailed Tits who were playing with a large white feather they had found. Because it was dark where I saw them, and because they move around fast, I only got a few shots. But they weren't thinking wrongly that this was food; they were clearly playing. They would try to snatch it from each other. They would drop it and let it float a little bit before flying down to catch it again. After a minute or so, they got bored (or were called away) and let it drop to the ground.
I'm sure lots of us have seen birds, especially raptors, flying and thought, 'They're just doing that because it's fun'.
Last month, I caught these two Long-tailed Tits who were playing with a large white feather they had found. Because it was dark where I saw them, and because they move around fast, I only got a few shots. But they weren't thinking wrongly that this was food; they were clearly playing. They would try to snatch it from each other. They would drop it and let it float a little bit before flying down to catch it again. After a minute or so, they got bored (or were called away) and let it drop to the ground.