Ground Jay
The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a distinct group of the passerine order of birds in the genus Podoces of the crow family Corvidae. They inhabit high altitude semi-desert areas from central Asia to Mongolia.
Ground jays show adaptations to ground living such as long, strong legs adapted to fast running and the ability to leap and bound onto boulders and rocks with great agility. Their long, curved thick bills are adapted for digging and probing.
While capable of flight (which they do infrequently and relatively weakly), they prefer running, and will readily perch on trees and bushes also.
Read more about Ground Jay: Species List
Famous quotes containing the words ground and/or jay:
“When we dream about those who are long since forgotten or dead, it is a sign that we have undergone a radical transformation and that the ground on which we live has been completely dug up: then the dead rise up, and our antiquity becomes modernity.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Tommy: You’re gonna have trouble with that one.
Milo: Oh no I’m not. He’s just not housebroken yet, that’s all.
Tommy: When are you going to stop getting yourself involved with young itinerant artists? It never works. If they’re no good, you’re ashamed. And if they are, they get independent.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)