At 15:30 10/05/2000 +1000, you wrote:
>I have been asked how birds such as Australian Pelicans know when inland
lakes such as Lake Eyre are full when it often has not rained within many
hundreds of Kms of the area. They take advantage of these conditions to
breed and come from near and far. I have consulted HANZAB and other texts
to no avail.
>
>Any clues anyone? Or as with many things avian do we just don't know?
>
>Cheers
>
>Roy Sonnenburg
>
Those bill pouches are not just used for fishing, they also generate very low
frequency sounds (infrasound - below human hearing, also used by elephants and
whales) which are directed inland.
When the lakes are full, the return echoes are distinctly different and the
pelicans go there to breed.
This is not yet proven but if anyone would like to give me a fat research
grant I'll gladly investigate it.
[Actually I have NO idea how they do it]
Pete
Dr Peter Woodall email =
Division of Vet Pathology & Anatomy
School of Veterinary Science. Phone = +61 7 3365 2300
The University of Queensland Fax = +61 7 3365 1355
Brisbane, Qld, Australia 4072 WWW = http://www.uq.edu.au/~anpwooda
"hamba phezulu" (= "go higher" in isiZulu)
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