Re: Roadrunners and cursorial wing use

["James R. Cunningham" <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

Accipiter wrote:

> When making their swift dashes after prey, the swift and agile roadrunners 
> invariably flicked their wings open to execute acute running turns, clearly 
> employing the increased drag to redirect their momentum as required.

Since you have observed them in action and I haven't, you probably know far 
more about this than I do, but.......

I seriously doubt that they were using increased drag as a major source of 
forces to redirect their momentum since drag forces would be smaller by an 
order of magnitude than the more effective directed lift forces that they could 
create with the wings.  Are you sure that they weren't using directed lift 
vectors in lieu of drag vectors to assist in turning?  As I've often pointed 
out, that can also help increase the zenith angle during a turn, while 
increased drag forces don't.