birding-aus

Stones in regurgitation - White Ibis?

To: Robyn Howard <>
Subject: Stones in regurgitation - White Ibis?
From:
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 12:18:21 +1100
On Mon, Feb 14, 2005 at 08:25:44AM +1000, Robyn Howard wrote:
> I have not seen this before and have not witnessed White Ibis doing any such
> thing.   Do they normally use stones to help break up food, and do birds
> that do use stones usually regurgitate them?
> 
> Would appreciate any knowledge or comments.

They're probably gastroliths (aka gizzard stones); birds, crocodiles
and dinosaurs are known to use them for grinding food.

Some stones are regurgitated when they become smooth and less
effective at grinding; they are replaced by swallowing new stones.
Small stones may be passed rather than regurgitated.

-- 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Paul Taylor                           Veni, vidi, tici -
                    I came, I saw, I ticked.

--------------------------------------------
Birding-Aus is now on the Web at
www.birding-aus.org
--------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message 'unsubscribe
birding-aus' (no quotes, no Subject line)
to 


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU