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Water Requirements by Birds

To: "Messages Birding-aus" <>
Subject: Water Requirements by Birds
From: "Bob Forsyth" <>
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 15:02:32 +1000
g'day all,
Can any readers direct me to any papers/books/journals comprehensively listing which Australian birds live or breed without requiring a water supply.
 
or alternatively which birds always need a water supply....(a smaller list ?)
 
I appreciate that some birds will only occasionally drink.
(I've only seen a Willy Wagtail drinking the once and very rarely Raptors.)
 
Continuing this thread..
1  How far will various species fly from their feeding areas to drink ?
2  Is it only the graminivorous and granivorous species (grass and seed eaters) that need water ?
3  Do waders, cormorants, egrets, herons etc drink ?
 
What prompted this question that Sunday, I unexpectedly "atlassed" Pheasant Coucals at 3 different locations 100 -120 km NNW of Mount Isa. (The first Atlas did not record this species in this square.)
 
The P C is a fairly sedentary bird and would have had to travel a distance to get water.
(In the past my sightings of this species has always adjacent to a water supply.)
 
But a check of  "Barker & Vestjens...The Food of Australian Birds" revealed that its diet is mainly beetles, bugs, grasshoppers, caterpillars, etc....in other words it does not need water !
 
Any references would be welcome.
 
Regards, Bob Forsyth, Mount Isa, NW Qld.
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