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Re: Hungry Hobby ?

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Subject: Re: Hungry Hobby ?
From:
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 97 17:49:35 WST
Shane mentioned that he thought he could remember seeing previous 
references describing birds eating charcoal or ash. There are in fact a 
number describing a wide range of Australian birds exhibiting such 
behaviour. Eating ash has also been reported in some Northern Hemisphere 
species, including hummingbirds. The following is a summary of some of the 
Australian examples, reproduced from Western Australian Bird Notes (WABN) 
(newsletter of the WA Group of the RAOU/Birds Australia). If anyone has any 
further information on the basis of this behaviour, I would be interested 
to hear about it.

>From WABN 77: 5 (1996):

BLACK HONEYEATERS AND ASH

In the last issue of WABN (No. 76, p. 9), F. Robinson reported seeing Black 
Honeyeaters feeding amongst ash on Glenflorrie Station.

Similar behaviour has been reported before, particularly for Black 
Honeyeaters.  Other Australian species recorded eating ash and/or nibbling 
or eating charcoal include the Short-tailed Shearwater, Bourke Parrot, Tree 
Martin, Fairy Martin, Dusky Wood-swallow, Double-barred Finch and Zebra 
Finch (Mollison and Green 1962, Baldwin 1965, Chisholm 1967). However, it 
appears to have been reported most often for Black Honeyeaters, and within 
this species, most reports concern female birds.

In Western Australia, Seyfort (1984) reported female Black Honeyeaters 
swallowing "small white lumps of potash" picked up from the ash of old 
campfires at several places in the Murchison region. One local RAOU member, 
Kevin Coate, has reported female, but not male, Black Honeyeaters feeding 
on ash at the time of commencement of breeding in the Pilbara and 
Murchison. Analysis of a sample of the ash showed that it was very high in 
calcium, suggesting that the females may have been building up their 
calcium levels prior to nesting and egg-laying (Coate 1985).

Elsewhere, Pescott (1985) observed Black Honeyeaters carrying pieces of 
charcoal in north-western Victoria, and cited an observation by L. Conole 
of Black Honeyeaters eating charcoal in this same area. In South Australia, 
Black Honeyeaters have also been seen feeding amongst charcoal and ash 
(Hutchins 1988) but in this case, both male and female birds were involved. 
 Although these observations were also at a time of breeding, they suggest 
an explanation different to, or more complex than, that offered by Kevin 
Coate.

It is known that some birds feed calcareous material (grit, shells of 
molluscs) to their nestlings, presumably to supply the calcium needed when 
forming the skeleton (Campbell and Lack 1985, p. 256). If Black Honeyeaters 
did this, it may provide the explanation for male and female birds picking 
up bits of charcoal, although would not seem to provide an explanation for 
actually eating charcoal or ash, because they would simply carry it to the 
young. Obviously, further careful observations would be of interest, and if 
any RAOU member notices such behaviour, it would be interesting to obtain 
chemical analyses of the ash as well as charcoal, along with observations 
on the stage of breeding.

Allan Burbidge

References:

Baldwin, M. 1965. Birds eating charcoal.  Emu 64: 208.
Campbell, B. and Lack, E. 1985. A Dictionary of Birds. T. and A.D. Poyser, 
Calton, Staffordshire.
Chisholm, A.H. 1967. Some ornithological oddities: concerning 
gizzard-stones. Emu 66: 374-375.
Coate, K. 1985. Black Honeyeaters feeding on ash. Western Australian 
Naturalist 16: 51-52.
Hutchins, B.R. 1988. Black Honeyeaters feeding amongst charcoal and ash.  
South Australian Ornithologist 30: 160.
Mollison, B.C. and Green, R.H. 1962. Mist-netting Tree Martins on charcoal 
patches. Emu 61: 277-280.
Pescott, T. 1988. Black Honeyeaters and charcoal.  Geelong Naturalist 22: 
37-39.
Seyfort, M. 1984. B.O.C. Western Australia Tour, 1-23 September, 1984. Bird 
Observer 635: 124.



- - - 
Dr Allan H. Burbidge             E-mail  
Dept of Conservation and Land Management,
Wildlife Research Centre, 
PO Box 51, Wanneroo WA, 6065    Australia 
Tel:  +61 8 9405 5100      Fax: +61 8 9306 1641

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