Relationship between bill morphology and preening behaviour in waders

Abstract

The relationship between bill morphology and preening behaviour was studied in 11 species of waders. On the assumption that species with long bills might be less efficient at preening than birds with short bills, the hypothesis was tested that long-billed species devoted more time to preening than short-billed species. Results showed a positive relationship between bill length and time spent preening, supporting the hypothesis. However, bill width, bill depth and curvature were not related to preening behaviour.