Wing Flaps

Despite being a different species, this slow-mo video is still a good resource. The diagram at the start shows the various wing poses during a flap cycle - quite a good place to begin the research, so I begin to get an idea of the sort of shapes the rig will have to manouvre into for the animator.

Early misconceptions include the range of motion from the shoulder joints on the downward stroke - if straight out is 0°, then the wing only rotates around the 30°'s mark; the rest of the motion is derived from forward rotation and the wings elbow joint bending inwards. 



More imagery of the take-off poses for the bird - bit unclear at the moment if the elbow joint is a ball joint or a hinge like a human elbow. When I look at some reference it appears to be a hinge and others a ball.