Yesterday, I visited our local Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli, about
100 km north of Brisbane.
Australian White Ibis - maybe three ? - regularly feed there on the small
crabs and whatever else may be found, and the other possible bird in the
same area is the Striated Heron.
On the boardwalk, I found what appeared to be some type of regurgitation
which contained the remains of small crabs, most noticeably Red-fingered
Marsh Crabs, the remains of insects (some of which were probably small
grasshoppers), some other unidentified matter, and about 20 small stones
varying in size from about 3 mm to roughly 8 or 9 millimetres. The stones
comprised approximately 70 per cent of the matter.
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.
Robyn
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