Birds' knees

They're not knees. The bird's leg joint that we see is more like a human's ankle than a knee. But it's fun to call them knees. The joint that similar to a knee is higher, under the bird's feathers.

This is one of my first photos of a zoo animal. I hadn't had a camera very long, and I had even less of an idea of what I was doing than I do now. I took a picture of a white-naped crane, and it wasn't a satisfying image because it was standing close to a fence. On a whim, I zoomed-in on a "knee" and a foot.

white-naped crane (Toledo Zoo, 2009)

 Later, I thought it might be amusing to take a series of photos of birds' knees.

Caribbean flamingo (Nashville Zoo)

adult Caribbean flamingo (Columbus Zoo)

juvenile Caribbean flamingo (Columbus Zoo)

magpie goose, I think (Cincinnati Zoo)

sacred ibis (Columbus Zoo)

Ginger, a white-naped crane, had leg braces. (Columbus Zoo)

Baby silvered leaf langur

A silvered leaf langur was born at the Columbus Zoo January 23. The neat thing about a baby silvered leaf langur is that it's orange even though adults are gray and black. I visited February 11.

Mom Daria holds her baby. That's a tail to be proud of!

Ah, there's the newborn!

Some cuddle time

One step was a tough climb.

Other members of the troop lend a hand(?). The two gray langurs were born last year.

The third juvenile gets in on the action. It seemed rough, but the baby was okay and mom didn't seem to mind.

Markhor

Sunny, the owner of those body parts

The markhor is an endangered goat that lives in mountains of central Asia. Males have shaggy coats and large, spiral horns.

This female markhor is missing a leg.

Female markhors have shorter coats and smaller horns.