![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-500b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThis isn’t the sharpest image in my portfolio but it does intrigue me.\u00a0 A lot.<\/p>\n
Six days ago this Barn Owl made an unsuccessful plunge into the deep snow for a vole and soon after took off almost directly away from me.\u00a0 This is one of the\u00a0images I got as it lifted off in the direction of its favorite hill-top perch – a “butt shot” to be sure but\u00a0I’m fascinated by the wing angle and position.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This shot caught the wings toward the end of the upstroke.\u00a0 The primary feathers at the end of the wings are in what appears to be\u00a0an almost perfectly\u00a0vertical position to allow for very little air resistance as they move to a higher position in preparation for the powered downstroke but the secondary feathers are pointed almost directly back at me.<\/p>\n The skeletal structure of a bird’s wing is homologous (similar in position, structure, and evolutionary origin but not necessarily in function)\u00a0to the forelimb of most other vertebrates (including humans)\u00a0with a humerus, then radius and ulna, then metacarpals and finally phalanges\u00a0at the end.\u00a0 Like humans, the joint between the radius\/ulna and the metacarpals is the carpal or “wrist”\u00a0joint (see here<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a> if you’re curious and\/or confused by the anatomy).\u00a0\u00a0 So the “wrist” is the joint between the primary and secondary wing\u00a0feathers.<\/p>\n Our wrist or carpal joint\u00a0can be “bent” up or down and left or right but it cannot be rotated (try holding your lower arm in place with the other hand and then rotating your wrist).\u00a0 But it looks to me\u00a0like this owl has rotated both “wrists” by almost 90 degrees (I’ve seen similar positions in Osprey photos).\u00a0 Which makes me wonder… HOW do they do that?<\/p>\n A little research suggests that the ability of birds to do so is the result of “the wedge-like shape of one carpal bone, the radiale” and that technical paper goes on to say that “the mobility of the wrist contributes to the ability of a flapping bird to partly fold the wing during the upstroke, greatly improving flight efficiency”.<\/p>\n By now I’ve probably belabored\u00a0the point beyond the interest of many but I just couldn’t help myself – the “old biologist” in me coming out I guess…<\/p>\n But I suspect that most anyone can marvel at the beauty and functionality of a bird’s wing as illustrated by this photo.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This isn’t the sharpest image in my portfolio but it does intrigue me.\u00a0 A lot. Six days ago this Barn Owl made an unsuccessful plunge into the deep snow for a vole and soon after took off almost directly away from me.\u00a0 This is one of the\u00a0images I got as it lifted off in the direction of its favorite hill-top perch – a “butt shot” to be sure but\u00a0I’m fascinated by the wing angle and position. \u00a01\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This shot caught the wings toward the end of the upstroke.\u00a0 The primary feathers at the end of the wings are in what appears to be\u00a0an almost perfectly\u00a0vertical position to allow for very little air resistance as they move to a higher position in preparation for the powered downstroke but the secondary feathers are pointed almost directly back at me. The skeletal structure of a bird’s wing is homologous (similar in position, structure, and evolutionary origin but not necessarily in function)\u00a0to the forelimb of most other vertebrates (including humans)\u00a0with a humerus, then radius and ulna, then metacarpals and finally phalanges\u00a0at the end.\u00a0 Like humans, the joint between the radius\/ulna and the metacarpals is the carpal or “wrist”\u00a0joint (see here if you’re curious and\/or confused by the anatomy).\u00a0\u00a0 So the “wrist” is the joint between the primary and secondary wing\u00a0feathers. Our wrist or carpal joint\u00a0can be “bent” up or down and left or right but it cannot be rotated (try holding your…<\/p>\n