The Raptorial Foot of a Hawk
“Fig. 46. - Raptorial foot of a hawk, Accipiter cooperi. The raptorial is another modification of the insessorial foot. It is advantageous to a bird of pray to be able to spread the toes as widely as possible, that the talons may seize pray like a set of grappling irons; and accordingly the toes are widely divergent from each other, the outer one in the owls and a few hawks being quite versatile. In a raptorial character, the toes are cleft profoundly, or, if united at base, it is by movable webbing; the claws are immensely developed and the under-surfaces of the toes are scabrous or bulbous for greater security of the object grasped.” Elliot Coues, 1884
Keywords
birds, bird anatomy, bird feet, bird claws, raptorial feet, raptorial foot of a hawk, Accipiter cooperi, insessorial feetGalleries
Bird AnatomySource
Elliot Coues Key to North American Birds (Boston, MA: Estes and Lauriat, 1884)
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