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> Is it possible that when they are on the ground, they aren't completely still - will their motion on the ground be mischaracterized as flight Well, actually

by seszett 13y ago

> Is it possible that when they are on the ground, they aren't completely still - will their motion on the ground be mischaracterized as flight Well, actually swifts can't even walk and have a very hard time taking off from ground. I don't know their behaviour once in Africa, but while they're in Europe you only ever see them in flight, on phone cables or clinging on cliffs. They fly straight to and from their elevated nest. I doubt very much that these situations would look the same as flight. Also... I think you guys could just try to have a little bit of trust in the knowledge of people who obviously know swifts better than you do. I think you can trust them for having studied their data a bit.

PhasmaFelis 13y ago
Dude. Asking questions and offering constructive criticism is how we understand good science, improve bad science, and discern the one from the other. "Having a little bit of trust" instead of asking questions is exactly what scientists should never do.
- seszett 13y ago
  The people in here who ask questions aren't scientists. Asking "but are you sure the sequence shows flight and not moving on the ground" for a bird that is widely known to never touch the ground is not constructive criticism, not good science, it doesn't improve anything, it just distracts from pertinent questions from knowledgeable people. Good science is criticism from people who have some knowledge in the field. Otherwise you're no better than the client who tells the designer that making the page title blink would add a nice touch to the homepage.
  - PhasmaFelis 13y ago
    > Asking "but are you sure the sequence shows flight and not moving on the ground" for a bird that is widely known to never touch the ground is not constructive criticism "Widely known"? Are you reading the same article? No one had any idea this happened until this study. (Yep, double post. Too late to delete. Sorry.)
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  > Asking "but are you sure the sequence shows flight and not moving on the ground" for a bird that is widely known to never touch the ground is not constructive criticism "Widely known"? Are you reading the same article? No one had any idea this happened until this study.
Myrmornis 13y ago
Minor point -- swifts don't perch on phone cables. That would be swallows and martins (unrelated). Swifts only land on the sorts of sheer rock faces / buildings that they nest in AFAIK. Final random swift observation: you can see some swift species hovering very briefly to take nectar from flowering trees which is cool, seeing as molecular and other evidence shows hummingbirds to be their closest extant lineage.

by seszett 13y ago

PhasmaFelis 13y ago

Dude. Asking questions and offering constructive criticism is how we understand good science, improve bad science, and discern the one from the other. "Having a little bit of trust" instead of asking questions is exactly what scientists should never do.

seszett 13y ago
The people in here who ask questions aren't scientists. Asking "but are you sure the sequence shows flight and not moving on the ground" for a bird that is widely known to never touch the ground is not constructive criticism, not good science, it doesn't improve anything, it just distracts from pertinent questions from knowledgeable people. Good science is criticism from people who have some knowledge in the field. Otherwise you're no better than the client who tells the designer that making the page title blink would add a nice touch to the homepage.
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  > Asking "but are you sure the sequence shows flight and not moving on the ground" for a bird that is widely known to never touch the ground is not constructive criticism "Widely known"? Are you reading the same article? No one had any idea this happened until this study. (Yep, double post. Too late to delete. Sorry.)
PhasmaFelis 13y ago
> Asking "but are you sure the sequence shows flight and not moving on the ground" for a bird that is widely known to never touch the ground is not constructive criticism "Widely known"? Are you reading the same article? No one had any idea this happened until this study.

Myrmornis 13y ago

Minor point -- swifts don't perch on phone cables. That would be swallows and martins (unrelated). Swifts only land on the sorts of sheer rock faces / buildings that they nest in AFAIK. Final random swift observation: you can see some swift species hovering very briefly to take nectar from flowering trees which is cool, seeing as molecular and other evidence shows hummingbirds to be their closest extant lineage.