Tucked in... or wide open?

Finally back to posting! Probably not in time for the SMAP contest, but sharing some of our #featheredfriends anyway; and since this week's theme is WINGS... here's some wings for you!

---

Tucked in or wide open, how do you prefer to see them? Probably the latter, I would say.

^{Have no idea which species this is, feel free to chip in if you know it!}

And if you're wondering why is this big bird perched in a handrail, it's because this photo was taken in a bird park in Malaysia, were quite a few exotic birds roam kind of free. Still, not entirely free as this little one.

^{Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis}

These are my favourite kind of tucked wings: the ones with distinct traits that help to identify the species I'm seeing. That black and yellow pattern is a sure way to identify goldfinches!

^{White stork - Ciconia ciconia}

Speaking of easy to identify colour patterns, the wide open wings of storks are always a wonder to see. Not that they don't look good in a resting position...

... but seeing them high in the air is a lot more fun, especially if they're flying low.

The same with seagulls: cute birds in the ground...

^{Yellow-legged gull - Larus michahellis}

... but with a lot more elegancy flying just over our heads (well, as long as they don't remember to drop anything...)!

Even when perched, wing position can also helps us with identification: wide open wings, perching near water? Most likely a cormorant!

^{Little cormorant - Microcarbo niger}

This was my first time seeing this particular species, but I can assure you the european cormorant species exhibit the exact same behaviour, so their wings dry faster after the dives.

^{Perched with open wings, near water, a cormorant? WTF??}

Ops... pretty sorry, mr. vulture. Although in my defense, I wrote "most likely"!

^{Black vulture - Coragyps atratus}

There you go: some vultures can also be spotted in the "perched with wide open wings" too! 😁

---

Have a great weekend, felt great to post here again. And thanks for the extra incentive, @nelinoeva! 😉

Still haven't joined Splinterlands? In what planet do you live in? Click the banner below and join the fun! (It has my referral link; you can go directly to the website if you don't want to use it; either way... join in! 😎 )