I don't know anything about the ability of Black-Cockatoos to drink saline
water, but the behavioural and physiological abilities of several other
Australian bird species to do this is well documented. Australian species
that are known to drink and physiologically tolerate saline water include
Galah, Zebra Finch, all the chat species, Spinifex Pigeon, Diamond Dove and
the Western Australian populations of the White-browed Scrubwren. There are
probably many more species (e.g. arid and semi-arid zone bird species,
including parrots and cockatoos), but the species that I have listed are
ones that immediately come to mind. Professor Erik Skadhauge of the
University of Copenhagen did some of this work while he was on sabbatical
leave at the University of Western Australia in the mid 1970s. This
resulted in him publishing several scientific papers on his Australian
studies, all of which are referred to in a global context in his
ground-breaking book: Skadhauge, E. (1981). Osmoregulation in Birds
(Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg).
Another good reference to this subject is Bradshaw, S.D. (2003). Vertebrate
Ecophysiology: An Introduction to its Principles and Applications (Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, UK). This text summarises a lot of work that
has been conducted on the drinking requirements and abilities of Australian
birds that have been conducted since Skadhauge's research in Western
Australia.
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde NSW
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Sent: Wednesday, 26 November 2014 12:51 PM
To: ;
Subject: Cockatoo drinking salt water?
Hi Martin,
Did you taste the water to see if there was discernible saltiness?
Regards,
Eric Vanderduys
Technical Officer
CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Phone: +61 7 4753 8529 | Fax: +61 7 4753 8600 | Mobile: 0437 330 961
| www.csiro.au |
www.csiro.au/people/Eric.Vanderduys.html
Address: CSIRO, PMB PO, Aitkenvale, Qld 4814. Deliveries: CSIRO, ATSIP, Bld
145 James Cook Drive, James Cook University Douglas Campus, Townsville Qld
4814, AUSTRALIA
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Martin Potter
Sent: Wednesday, 26 November 2014 9:27 AM
To:
Subject: Cockatoo drinking salt water?
Hi Guys,
On a walk last Sunday at the mouth of the Shoalhaven River NSW, we were
lucky to see a small flock of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos at close range.
One of the birds flew to the ground, walked to the water's edge and appeared
to start drinking what would be salt water. I am not sure of the exact
degree of salinity of the water here , but the ocean is not far away. I have
not observed this behaviour before and just wondered if this is unusual. I
have uploaded some photos at
http://s1079.photobucket.com/user/MandPBirds/library/Yellow-tailed%20Black-C
ockatoo%20Shoalhaven%20Heads%20NSW?sort=9&page=1
Thanks,
Martin Potter
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