Page 36 - Veterinary diagnostic imaging birds exotic pets wildlife

32 SECTION I III The Birds

Figure 2-13 • A Swainson’s hawk, wings outspread, perched on the bare hand of its handler.

Figure 2-14 • A dead kestrel before being radiographed to see whether there is any evidence that it was shot. The examination proved to
be negative.

observed these birds hunting side by side in a river peration to escape, often momentarily beach them-
near my home (Figure 2-17). The local pelicans and selves just long enough to be taken by a gull patiently
cormorants prefer to hunt the heavy, convergent waiting at the water’s edge (Figure 2-20).
hydraulics produced as water streams over and around
a weir, just as it meets the reinforced riverbank (Figures
2-18 and 2-19). All prefer the shallows, especially the III PIGEONS
cormorants, which resemble otters more than birds
because they pursue their prey only a few inches Perhaps no other bird is more at home in cities than
beneath the turbulent surface. Minnows, in their des- the pigeon. It perches on rooftops, beneath bridges, on

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