John,
Many arid zone birds who need to move long distances to a source of drinking
or bathing water do so in the cooler parts of the day to avoid overheating
and dehydration while on the move.
Interestingly, emus are quite dependent on water for drinking. Studies of
both captive and free-ranging emus from arid and semi-arid environments have
shown that they need to drink between 1 to 1.5 litre of water per day to
maintain body water balance.
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde NSW
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of John Leonard
Sent: Thursday, 20 December 2012 9:00 AM
To: Birding-aus
Subject: Fwd: Re: Emus bathing on a hot day
In November 2010 near Denham, WA (Shark Bay), I observed a male Emu with
eight chicks approach a salt lake near the ocean and bathe up to the belly,
the chicks, however, stayed out of the water.
The funny thing was that although the days were hot (up to 35), this was
very early in the morning when the heat wasn't a problem. Perhaps it did
have something to do with getting rid of parasites.
John Leonard
On 20 December 2012 08:24, brian fleming <> wrote:
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