On LHI in early December the local Woodhen found my efforts in uprooting
Crofton Weed much to its liking: the freshly disturbed litter and soil
providing good pickings for a bird that doesn't use its feet to scratch for
food, but moves the leaves with its beak. It quickly worked out that I was
the cause of the bonanza but didn't seem to realise that when I sat down
for a rest (which was often!) I was not still uncovering invertebrates and
it would come right up to me, even climbing over my legs and foraging
between them if I remained motionless.
One particularly hot day the bird was walking around beak agape (is that a
cooling mechanism?) and I wondered if it would like a drink. (There aren't
many places on LHI where there is any fresh water and I surmise that
Woodhens must have been able to survive without drinking.)
I cut the bottom few centimetres off a discarded Coke can, sunk it in the
ground, and filled it with water. The Woodhen found it almost immediately.
It dipped its beak into the water two or three times, then wiped one side
of it vigorously with its foot. Then a few more dips and wipe the other
side with the other foot. The wiping was very rapid - foot just a blur of
reciprocating movement. After doing that a few times it pecked at the
ground beside the can, then removed the can from the hole and pecked under
it.
Several times I replaced the can and refilled it if the water had been
lost. I didn't watch the bird all the time, but whenever I did see it at
the can, it repeated those same actions. Always the 'beak-wiping'
procedure; never did I see it simply drink.
Can any Woodhen expert please enlighten me as to the significance of this
'beak-wiping'?
Syd Curtis at Hawthorne, Qld.
H Syd Curtis
|
