Hi guys,
Swallows both drink (by skimming) and bathe (by diving a little deeper) on the
wing over ponds. I have an excellent book on high speed nature photography by
Stephen Dalton where he documents both behaviours very artistically.
Allan Richardson
Morisset NSW
On 01/07/2013, at 11:47 AM, John Leonard wrote:
> I have often observed Hirundines feeding over water and picking food off
> the surface of the water, however quite often they go a bit deeper, causing
> more of a splash and a ripple at the water surface. I have wondered whether
> they were feeding on something below the water, or simply having a drink.
> Probably both at different times.
>
> John Leonard
>
> On 1 July 2013 11:34, jenny spry <> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>>
>>
>> Last year on B-A I posted some observations about Welcome Swallows feeding
>> on insect larvae captured from *below* the surface of a pool outside the
>> Western Lagoons gate at the Western Treatment Plant (Werribee). Since then
>> I was asked to write the observation up for publication in a journal. For
>> various reasons this did not happen and I decided to publish a version of
>> it on my blog instead.
>>
>>
>>
>> I then found a photo in the book *Where to See Birds in Victoria*, edited
>> by Tim Dolby (2009). On page 109 there is a photo taken by Glenn Ehmke that
>> shows the same behaviour. Glenn took this photo and others at Anderson’s
>> Inlet in July 2007 so the sub-surface feeding appears to have been
>> occurring in Victoria for many years.
>>
>>
>>
>> I cannot find written reference to sub-surface prey feeding in anything I
>> have read on the *hirundinidae *family. There is, however, frequent
>> reference to *hirundinidae* feeding “over” water and maybe the authors were
>> just not being precise in their wording and or observations. It is possible
>> that all swallows are already known to feed on sub-surface prey but I
>> cannot find the behaviour explicitly stated.
>>
>>
>>
>> Interestingly, according to HANZAB Vol 7, Welcome Swallows are migratory
>> with most Victorian birds moving north in April and May. Some Tasmanian
>> birds also move north, leaving Tasmania in April on their way to wintering
>> grounds in Victoria, which they then leave to return to Tasmania, beginning
>> in September. As both feeding events reported above occurred in July in
>> coastal Victoria the birds involved were either migrants from Tasmania or
>> some local birds that did not migrate, or a combination of both. As I have
>> not seen sub-surface feeding at WTP other than in July, and Glenn’s
>> sighting was also in July, could it be that sub-surface feeding is a habit
>> learned exclusively by Tasmanian birds and brought to their Victorian
>> wintering grounds? Or is July the only month in which suitable larvae hatch
>> in coastal Victoria? These are questions I cannot answer, and are ones that
>> will require more research by someone else.
>>
>>
>>
>> It would be interested to hear if anyone has similar sightings this year,
>> or in the past, especially from Tasmania or NSW.
>>
>>
>>
>> And if anyone is interested in the full article, with photos from Glenn and
>> myself, it is on my blog at the link below.
>>
>>
>>
>> cheers
>>
>> --
>> Jenny
>> http://jenniferspryausbirding.blogspot.com.au/
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>
>
>
> --
> John Leonard
> Canberra
> Australia
> www.jleonard.net
>
> I want to be with the 9,999 other things.
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