Compared to mammals, birds seem to have this jerky, almost robotic quality to the way they move. I was wondering if there’s any explanation for this
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In addition to this “fine” movements require more resources and so there is no point in having them where they are not needed. You need more nerves innervating the muscles to have more control over how they move. For example in humans we have many more nerves going to our hands and face muscles than our leg muscles. As a result we can make very fine movements with our hands and facial muscles but our legs are much more jerky. If we had the same amount of fine motor control in our legs we’d need more nerves, larger brains and we’d use up more energy.
We have strong evolutionary pressures for fine hand and face motor control but our legs dont need it. Birds have no reason for fine motor control, they dont use facial expressions, or use their extremities for fine movements or complex tasks. It would be extra energy expended for no good reason.
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