title: On a tweezer for droplets.
abstract: We describe the physics behind a peculiar feeding mechanism of a certain class of shorebirds, in which they transport their prey in droplets from their beak tips mouthwards. The subtle interplay between the drop and the beak's tweezering motion allows the birds to defy gravity through driving the drop upwards. This mechanism provides a novel example of dynamic boundary-driven drop motion, and suggests how to design tweezers for drops, able to trap and to move small amounts of liquid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: John W M
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bush
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peaudecerf
authors.forename: Manu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prakash
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Quéré
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D046091:Charadriiformes / Q000502:physiology*; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D006112:Gravitation; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008334:Mandible / Q000502:physiology; D009038:Motion