I would say that the more correct verb would be spear. Herons, anhingas and cormorants (perhaps others, but these are the ones I am familiar with)have a cervical vertebra that is usually kinked back towards the body. When the bird sights prey, muscles snap that vertebra forward, propelling the head very rapidly towards the prey. Some of these guys spear their prey, others grab.

While beak shape might be an indicator of behavior, I would think that an examination of the cervical vertebra would be more telling. My reconstruction work on the skeletons of _Pterodactylus_ and _Rhamphorhynchus_ strongly suggests that at least these two species were incapable of such an action.

Do we have azdharchid cervical series that are sufficiently complete to say how their necks worked?

(blush)

The last blog I read was from Mike Habib. My mistake.

You wrote (above): “Birds that stab prey (herons and anhingas) have laterally compressed bills: in azhdarchids, the rostrum was sub-triangular in section while the lower jaw was dorsoventrally compressed. Based on analogy, this shape is suited for grabbing, not stabbing.”

Was there a difference between some azhadarchid bill tips and others? Were some dorsoventrally compressed, and others quite sharp?

And what taxon is considered the most primitive azhdarchid? Is Huanhepterus included among them?

Some birds like the roadrunner and shrike will beat a small snake or lizard to death before ingesting it, but this is due to the prey being quite large compared to their body. Herons, cranes, and storks simply seize and swallow small vertebrates with impunity, to include sharp toothed snakes and rodents. There was an incident of a pelican in a London Park that simply seized and gupled down a struggling pigeon. I have little double Azhdarchids would feed on proportionately larger prey like juvenile dinosaurs with no ill effects, with no need to expend unneccesary energy trying to kill or stun them first.

WOAH…

So it may have paid azhdarchids to give a hard disabling peck or so before picking up sizable prey, or to grab it then kill in the bill (maim or suffocate by biting, expiry through shock, or striking prey against surroundings).

What would be nice would be to find fossil prey within azhdarchid remains; or, fossil prey with healed azhdarchid-bill-commensurate wounds. (Well, I can dream can’t I?)

Despite the huge size, azhdarchids could have taken off from the ground, and quite rapidly, IF they used all four limbs to launch (that is, leaping from all fours, rather than just the hind limbs). The evidence for a hind limb launch has actually never been particularly strong (it got rooted simply by tradition), while evidence is mounting rather rapidly for a quad launch. Under a quad launch model, Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx could take off from a standstill, from level ground. No cliffs required.

Also of interest, azhdarchids have several osteological characteristics associated with expanded flapping capacity. While the flapping would be limited to short bursts, it was probably quite powerful. This makes azhdarchids classic “flap-gliders”: animals capable of short bursts of powered flight, that cover long distances primarily through soaring.