Hiking in Werrikimbe NP on Saturday and observed a Thornbill (I've narrowed it down to Brown or Striated) appearing to imitate a falling leaf. It would flutter down from around 4-5 metres just like a falling gum leaf, remain on ground for a few seconds perhaps grabbing an insect, then fly back up normally. Can anybody tell me if this is a normal or common behavior for Thornbills or any other species and why they might imitate a leaf? Thanks.
I haven't heard of that behaviour in thornbills, LPMurphy, but I imagine it's a cunning camouflage designed to allow it to close in on prey.
I have observed a similar behaviour , but slightly different. After some rain ,the birds let themselves fall down from the trees in my garden, touching the wet leaves on the way down. I think it was like having a bath, as they were getting their feather wet on the way down. Have seen a few birds do this repeatedly.
M-L
I have seen this a couple of times at first I thought they were chaseing small insects, it seems to be when they are coming down from higher branches with little or no cover to the ground ,it may be a way to hide from predators as they don't seem to like being ot in the open for to long.
I have tried to get a shot of them doing this a couple of times but the light has been low and I end up with little fuzy blobs ot feathers ,if I can get a sharp one I know it will make an interesting image.
Thanks for the comments, it would seem likely that it is a technique to camouflage themselves from predators as they were coming down from higher branches and there was not much ground cover/ shrub for them to hide. Probably a clever and interesting behavioural adaptation to the tall eucalypt forest habitat...
Sparrow if you ever do get a sharp shot be sure to post it here..
LM