1 Wading and Water Walking
The long, widely spaced toes of shorebirds, like egrets and herons, are perfectly designed for wading in shallow water and not sinking too deep into soft sand or mud. Some water birds, like jacanas, can almost walk on water. They have large feet and long, thin toes that evenly spread their weight so they can walk on top of floating plants.
2 Perfect Paddles
Many water birds like ducks, geese, swans, and cormorants have webbing stretching between their three front toes, giving them perfect paddles for swimming. Although their feet are just right for moving through water, these birds waddle when they walk. Grebes, another water bird, have toes with large, fleshy lobes, even more specially adapted for paddling, so much so that they can’t walk or waddle on land.
3 Getting a Grip
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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This story is from the April 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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