why do some birds hold their tails in the air? (1 Viewer)

[craftygirl]

I was wondering why some birds seem to have a tendency to hold their tails up in the air. I've noticed mockingbirds tend to do it quite a bit. Is it a trait of a certain variety of bird? What is the significance of this behavior?

 

[craftygirl]

okay.....so now I'm wondering if no one has the answer to my question, or if I asked a really silly question and no one has the heart to tell me. I'm hoping it's the former.|:S|

 

[delia todd]

okay.....so now I'm wondering if no one has the answer to my question, or if I asked a really silly question and no one has the heart to tell me. I'm hoping it's the former.|:S|

So do I:-O

D

 

[fugl]

okay.....so now I'm wondering if no one has the answer to my question.|:S|

I think that's probably it. My guess would be that the subject has never been systematically studied. Offhand, I don't recall having read anything on it.

 

[Henry B]

It could be something to do with balance.

 

[Henry B]

Or they are just mooning.

 

[KnockerNorton]

I get asked this a lot, and the truth is that nobody seems to know.

 

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

Tail movements in general don't appear to be well studied. For example why Bluethroats frequently hold their tails right up, Robins cock theirs together with drooping wingtips, and Redstarts quiver theirs. Doesn't seem to be any particular reason for it! Also Chiffchaff and various hippolais warblers all give different but seemingly deliberate tail movements. I don't think anyone knows why wagtails wag their tails even, although it's been speculated upon. Anyway...good question but not one that's going to have a flood of knowledgeable responses

Jan

 

[fugl]

Tail movements in general don't appear to be well studied. For example why Bluethroats frequently hold their tails right up, Robins cock theirs together with drooping wingtips, and Redstarts quiver theirs. Doesn't seem to be any particular reason for it! Also Chiffchaff and various hippolais warblers all give different but seemingly deliberate tail movements. I don't think anyone knows why wagtails wag their tails even, although it's been speculated upon. Anyway...good question but not one that's going to have a flood of knowledgeable responses

Jan

And then there are the Empidonax flycatchers, a large taxon in which all (or most) jerk the tail upwards with the single exception of the Gray which moves it downward in a slow sweep. What's going on here, I wonder? Maybe nothing much, but just the way the tail-movement genes happened to sort themselves out in the Gray Flycatcher as opposed to the rest of genus. Even if this is true, of course, we still haven't answered the "why tail-jerk at all" question.

 

[Aracari]

I think it has a lot to do with communication. The tail position of a bird could possibly tell quite a lot from what it's feeling at that moment... just like in a dog. The tail up in the air seems to be a way of trying to gain position as a leader of that situation. I see it a lof at bird feeders, where competition is strong.

I have also seen tail movements and positions with the Chalk-browed Mockingbird during courting that I haven't seen in other occasions. Want another extreme example? The long tail filaments of the Wire-tailed Manakin, wich it uses to gently rub the throat of the female during courting.

Of course, tail position could possibly move in other distinct ways during agression or threat.

 

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

I think it has a lot to do with communication. The tail position of a bird could possibly tell quite a lot from what it's feeling at that moment... just like in a dog. The tail up in the air seems to be a way of trying to gain position as a leader of that situation. I see it a lof at bird feeders, where competition is strong.

I have also seen tail movements and positions with the Chalk-browed Mockingbird during courting that I haven't seen in other occasions. Want another extreme example? The long tail filaments of the Wire-tailed Manakin, wich it uses to gently rub the throat of the female during courting.

Of course, tail position could possibly move in other distinct ways during agression or threat.

Certainly many species use tail movement or hold tail up as part of display...Capercaillie and Ruddy Duck for examples. I'm not convinced that the tail movements by various old world warblers and wagtails etc is linked to communication though. It's completely habitual whether the bird is feeding or not, in company with others or not etc. Some of the hippolais have tail movements associated with calls, so in these cases may be communication though or simply a habit/trait.

Jan

 

[Aracari]

Another very plausible possibility is balance while the bird is perched.

Although I do think it also has something to do with communication, specially agressive threat towards other birds, like at feeders.

 

[Doughnuteater]

Or they are just mooning.

Only to you they do.

 

[craftygirl]

well, one thing's for sure- I'm going to be paying a lot closer attention to tail movement from now on.

 

[Kat]

This is to do with tail movement, rather than the bird holding its tail in the air. I could only find the abstract, but puts forwards why the Willie Wagtail 'wags' its tail.

http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/ZO97048.htm

 

[Jim M.]

Probably the most habitual tailwagging bird in North America is the Eastern Phoebe. I have not heard a good evolutionary explanation as to why this habit evolved. It would seem counterproductive, since such gratuitous movement should make a bird easier for predators to spot. I heard one theory that the tailwagging helps them blend in when trees and grasses are swaying in the wind, but I do not find that convincing.

Jim

 

[ovenbird43]

Along these same lines, I've often wondered why a few species wag their whole back ends, such as the bobbing of the waterthrushes and Spotted Sandpiper. Or why the American Dipper bobs its whole body up and down. The common thread among these species is that they spend most of their lives near water, along noisy streams except in the case of Northern Waterthrush, which prefers bogs when breeding. Maybe a visual cue of some sort, when there is a lot of ambient noise? I have no idea, but always wanted to know.

 

[dantheman]

When I first read this I was thinking maybe visual communication, as Aracari mentioned.

In the mammalian world the white scuts of deer and rabbits spring to mind. A visual movement of a small warbler (like Chiffchaff) which flicks its tail a lot whilst feeding would possibly be signalling to others (its young/ other members of the feeding flock)that it is there . .

Ok, not a great example, maybe further work on a 'bad science project' is called for . .

 

[Sunfyre300]

Mockingbirds perform predator-display with their tails upright during the nesting season. Source:
THE MOCKINGBIRD’S “TAIL-UP” DISPLAY TO
MAMMALS NEAR THE NEST by
JACK P. HAILMAN

 

[KC Foggin]

Mockingbirds perform predator-display with their tails upright during the nesting season. Source:
THE MOCKINGBIRD’S “TAIL-UP” DISPLAY TO
MAMMALS NEAR THE NEST by
JACK P. HAILMAN

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