Wayne R. Petersen
JOHN KRICHER
To kick off Bird Observer’s 2023 season, readers are again faced with an appendage-challenged bird—this time one seemingly without legs or head. The good news is that the rest of the bird is strikingly clear and without any obvious ambiguities. Indeed, many of the mystery bird’s various feather tracts are singularly sharp. Another notable feature of the photograph is that the bird is on an obviously gravelly substrate—not sand, grass, or leaves—and is not perched in a tree or bush. The bird’s legless appearance suggests that it is probably short legged and likely spends much of its time on the ground, not perched higher in bushes or trees.
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