Animals Drinking; more to it than meets the tongue

All vertebrate life (and probably all other life) needs water, and the simplest way is seemingly just to drink it. However it's not always that simple actually and in fact quite a few animals, including many desert dwellers, rely on getting their necessary liquid intake from their food. This may be from succulent plants or from eating other animals. In general however most animals drink daily, usually more than once. And even among these, there's no one way that all animals drink. 

Among larger mammals (especially larger carnivores and hoofed mammals) lapping with the tongue is prevalent. But even here there are variations. Dogs and relatives scoop with the tongue, while cats quickly withdraw the tongue, 'pulling' water up into the mouth. 

Big male Jaguar Panthera onca, lapping water from a river, Pantanal,
south-western Brazil.

Sumatran Tiger Panthera tigris sumatrae, Adelaide Zoo.
(And this is the only captive animal to feature here, but that lapping tongue was too good to ignore!)

Most herbivores submerge the tip of their muzzle and use the tongue as a pump. (The following three images are old - pre-digital - scans of slides, all taken at Etosha National Park, in the deserts of northern Namibia. Unfortunately they're still the best I've got of drinking antelopes.)

Black-faced Impala Aepyceros petersi, a species found only in northern Namibia
and adjacent Angola.

 

Gemsbok Oryx gazella, a large desert antelope from south-western Africa.

Female Nyala Tragelaphus angasii, truly a beautiful antelope.

Common Warthog Phacochoerus africanus, Waza NP, northern Cameroon.

Southern Giraffe Giraffa giraffa, another old scan from Etosha I'm afraid. To reach the
water, giraffes must either spread stiff front legs widely, or bend them as here. According to
the Etosha NP web site the question of how they managed to get water 'uphill' for that distance was
resolved by a visiting physicist. Apparently the animal uses two 'valves' to achieve
the feat. One valve is formed by the lips, the other by the epiglottis at the back of
the mouth. It first 'sinks its puckered lips into the water and then pulls back its jaw, allowing
water to rush into the mouth, all the while keeping the epiglottis “valve” closed.
Next, the giraffe clenches its lips and relaxes the epiglottis, then pumps its jaw so that
the captured water is pushed into the esophagus.' From time it lifts its neck to
allow collected water to run down into the stomach. As with many animals,
this is when it is at its most vulnerable to predators.

Distant Vicunas Lama vicugna drinking in Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve, southern Peru,
on the northern edge of the Atacama Desert. This wild ancestor of the Alpaca lives only in the high
cold and arid Andes.

Kangaroos have apparently independently evolved a similar lapping system to cats and dogs, with a long narrow muzzle and and long tongue. This also enables desert kangaroos (especially Red Kangaroos and Euros) to access narrow water supplies such as in rock crevices, which are inaccessible to domestic stock.

Euro Macropus robustus drinking from a waterhole in Idalia NP, central Quensland.

Finally elephants, uniquely (well they've got a monopoly on trunks these days!) suck water into their trunks and then blow it directly into their mouths. This one was part of a large loose herd coming to drink and bathe in pools in the Ewaso Ng'iro River.

First it fills its trunk by suction...

... then it squirts it into its mouth.

Birds, obviously enough, must employ different strategies. With a very few exceptions, birds don't have suction available to them - no lips for a start! Accordingly it seems that most birds simply scoop water into their bill and tilt their head back.

Emus Dromaius novaehollandiae drinking from road puddles after overnight rain,
Mungo NP, south-western NSW. 

 

Interestingly these youngsters, at the same site, found it easier to reach the water
from a squatting position.

Here are some other birds using the same technique, though we can't actually see the moment of scooping.

These Apostlebirds Struthidea cinerea were taking advantage of a very shallow puddle by
a water tank in a roadside stop in western NSW.

White-winged Choughs Corcorax melanorhamphos drinking from a dam on
the outskirts of Canberra.

Crimson Chats Epthianura tricolor drinking at a rockhole on the southern
edge of the Great Sandy Desert in central far eastern Western Australia.

A small part of a huge flock of Masked and White-browed Woodswallows
(Artamus personatus and A. superciliosus) drinking at a waterhole south
of Georgetown, central northern Queensland.

Silvereyes Zosterops lateralis drinking in the relative safety of granite boulders
in a creek bed in Warrabah NP, central NSW. Drinking is always a potentially
hazardous undertaking, with predators always likely to be lurking.

A couple of groups of birds however are known to be able to suck; this is advantageous in that it reduces the dangerous time spent at the water's edge. Pigeons are the best-known exponents. They create a sort of peristaltic pump by sending waves of muscular contractions along the oesophagus to pull the water back.

Bar-shouldered Doves Geopelia humeralis drinking (at the same rockpool as the Euro above)
in Idalia NP, central Queensland.

Diamond Doves Geopelia cuneata (red eye and spotted wings) and
Peaceful Doves G. placida (blue eye-ring and barred wings) drinking
at Warrigal Waterhole near Mount Isa, far north-western Queensland.

White-headed Pigeon Columba leucomela in a back yard
on the edge of Nowra, south coast NSW.

Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised to discover that a related family of birds, the arid land sandgrouse of Africa and Central Asia, have a similar drinking adaptation. In their case they suck water into the beak, then tip their head to allow to run into the crop for storage and transport to chicks in nests on the ground.

Black-faced Sandgrouse Pterocles decoratus, Amboseli NP, Kenya.

Chestnut-breasted Sandgrouse P. exustus Serengeti NP, Tanzania.

Chestnut-breasted Sandgrouse, Waza NP, northern Cameroon.
I have included this poor photo because, if you click on it to enlarge, you'll
see that the bird on the left is in the act of tipping its head back to swallow,
spilling some water in the process.

Some of the Australian grass-finches have also evolved a means of reducing drinking time by suction, though they use a different strategy, involving a 'bill-down' posture.
 

Australian Zebra Finch Taeniopygia castanotis drinking in typical position,
Murrawa Bore, Great Sandy Desert, WA.

 

Zebra Finches coming to drink in the evening at Willie Rockhole on
the southern edge of the Great Sandy Desert, WA.

They use their tongues as a double-action scoop, at up to twenty times a second, taking a droplet of water into the mouth, and from there back into the oesophagus and crop, via the pharynx. Other Australian grass finches which can do likewise include Double-bar, Gouldian, Diamond Firetail, Star, Long-tailed, Masked, Black-throated and Pictorella Finches. I don't know if this list is comprehensive, or if all others have been studied and excluded. As far as I know non-Australian grass finches do not have this ability, but again I don't know how far such studies extend.

At a little puddle by the headquarters complex in Serengeti NP,
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus Uraeginthus bengalus and a
Blue-capped Cordon-bleu U. cyanocephalus contemplate
their drinking strategy. Or not.

I have read (non-authoritatively) that parrots can 'lap' water with their tongue - their tongues are very flexible, so it's plausible - but I've also seen it asserted that most birds also can, which seems contrary to most sources. The fact is that there is a lot of apparently unsubstantiated material 'out there', and some large information gaps.

This Australian Ringneck Parrot Barnardius zonarius at Idalia NP in central Queensland
certainly appeared to me to drinking steadily, not 'sipping and tipping' so I'm inclined
to believe that at least some parrots do 'lap'.

 

I couldn't tell with these - they'd paused their activity to keep an eye on me.

Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius, Mount Majura, Canberra Nature Park.

Pale-headed Rosellas P. adscitus, taking early morning advantage of the 'infinity pool'
at Cobbold Gorge Station south of Georgetown, north Queensland.

Various nectar-dependant birds, including hummingbirds, sunbirds and honeyeaters, have forked or brush-tipped tongues to take up nectar by rapid movements, but I don't know if the first two have been observed drinking water, which is the topic of this post. I have certainly seen many species of Australian honeyeaters doing so however and many of those have been 'bill down' so not sipping and tipping.

Macleay's Honeyeater Xanthotis macleayanus, drinking at Kingfisher Park, Julatten,
north-east Queensland. Here the brush-tipped tongue is clearly visible, and obviously
'lapping' up the water, as it would flower nectar.

Noisy Friarbird Philemon corniculatus, at the same dam behind the campground
in Idalia NP as the Australian Ringneck just above. The tongue is not visible but
from this position it could only be using its tongue to lift the water.

No chance of seeing detail in this four-species chaos at an elevated trough (above the reach of goats)
at Gluepot Reserve in the mallee lands north of the Murray River in South Australia.
(For the record we have, from the left, White-eared, Brown-headed, Spiny-cheeked and
Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters.)

I've already alluded to a lack of information with regard to the drinking strategies of many bird groups, and this photo, again from the same Idalia NP dam, has caused me a lot frustration in attempting to explain what's happening.

The Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Acanthagenys rufogularis on the right is behaving as
expected, but what about the Spotted Bowerbird Chlamydera maculata on the left?
Many bowerbirds use a coloured tongue as part of the display routine, but I can find
nothing to suggest that they use it to lap up water. But how else could it be drinking
from that position? I like a good mystery, but explanations are nice too!

 

And finally another mystery, plus an entirely different approach to drinking.

This young Australian Brushturkey Alectura lathami, living in the North Coast Regional
Botanic Garden at Coffs Harbour on the north coast of NSW, drank from this pond
by turning its head on its side - almost upside down in fact - to put its beak into the water.
Needless to say I had no idea what it was up to, and I can't find any mention of such
behaviour anywhere. Any suggestions welcomed!

Any finally, not a mystery, this is a well-known behaviour, but it's pretty amazing to watch.

Magnificent Frigatebirds Fregata magnificens, drinking from a pond on the island of
Isabela, Galápagos. These have briefly settled on the surface, but frigatebirds often
drink by swooping low over a water surface and scooping a beakful up as they go.
The next photo, though again a scan of an ancient slide, shows this behaviour quite well.

 

Lesser Frigatebirds Fregata ariel drinking on the wing from a bauxite mine
tailings pond, Weipa, far north Queensland.

Well I hope I've inveigled you to read this far (or at least look at the pictures); if you've learnt something that you're happy you now know, then I'm happy. Either way, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.

NEXT POSTING TUESDAY 25 MARCH
Yes, this is a couple of days early but we're leaving the country on 27 March,
until early May.

I love to receive your comments and in future will be notifying you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. All current subscribers have been added to this mailing list and have already been contacted. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it.
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Queensland's Channel Country#2: some animals

Last time I offered an introduction to south-west Queensland's Channel Country, one of our (many) favourite destinations, a vast arid and semi-arid area of wide plains and braided stream channels that ultimately empty into Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre. Today, as promised, I'm going to complete this little series by introducing some of the animals we've come across in our various visits. It's not entirely representative as we tend to go there in the cooler months (except for one April stay in Bladensburg NP, south of Winton and close to the northern edge of the Channel Country), so reptiles for instance feature here far less than they should. The mammals are largely nocturnal so we tend to miss those too but I offer a few here. So it's mostly birds and invertebrates this time, hope you keep reading anyway! It's turned out to be longer than I'd anticipated, my regular readers will not be at all surprised to learn.

We'll start with three different plovers, all of them inland specialists though one extends to the coast as well.

Black-fronted Dotterel Charadrius melanops on one of the Diamantina Channels.
This little wader can be found on any inland water body but also sometimes comes to
the coast. For a long time it was placed in its own genus, but very recently it was
reinstated in the 'general' dotterel genus Charadrius. It seems that this species
and the next evolved on the inland waterways as Australia dried out.

Red-kneed Dotterel Erythrogonys cinctus, on the same channel as the previous one.
This very pretty dotterel is definitely a bird of the inland, and retains its
single-species-genus status.

 

Banded Lapwing Vanellus tricolor west of Windorah. This lapwing is essentially
a dry-country bird, though it sometimes irrupts into the south-east. It is closely
related to the other Australian lapwing, the familiar Masked Lapwing V. miles.
I reckon this one's more attractive though!

There are some impressive pigeons and doves too.

Diamond Dove Geopelia cuneata, Morney Creek, 150k west of Windorah.
A common little dove across most of the inland, and near the coast in the tropics.

Spinifex Pigeon Geophaps plumifera, also at our Morney Creek camp.
These delightful little desert pigeons are among our favourites. Their main
needs appear to be spinifex (of course), rocks and not to be too far from
water (like other pigeons and seed-eating birds).

 

Flock Bronzewing Phaps histrionica just west of Windorah. This was an
unexpected treat. Their core range is the vast Mitchell Grass plains of northern
Australia, though they used to extend far beyond that. However they are
highly nomadic and they can still turn up unexpectedly elsewhere in good seasons.
Indeed I've only seen them five times and three of those have been
in the Channel Country. They were superabundant before the sheep arrived
but even as recently as 1968 the great Australian ornithologist Harry Frith reported
from near Katherine in the Northern Territory a flock "a kilometre long and
10-20 metres thick, flying on a front of 100m". What a sight!

Of course the channels support water birds, sometimes in huge numbers. Last post contained an image of part of a big flock of Little Black Cormorants by the road bridge over Cooper Creek near Windorah; often this species accompanies Pelican feeding flocks. Here are a couple more, and arguably another..

White-necked Heron Ardea pacifica at Bladensburg NP.
We can see this handsome heron anywhere in Australia, but it is always a pleasure.

Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus in an ephemeral wetland west of Windorah. This
attractive little ibis (they were rather distant here) is found across Australia,
though it is much commoner in the tropics, and Africa. It also has populations
scattered across Asia and around the Caribbean.

Brolgas however are a bit harder to categorise; cranes are often thought of as waterbirds, and Brolgas nest and sometimes feed in wetlands, but they are equally at home foraging and display 'dancing' on the plains. It's not important how we classify them, they are truly magnificent birds either way. They are present throughout the Channel Country and you'd be unlucky to pass a day there without seeing or hearing them.

Brolga Antigone rubicunda by the road to the Noccundra Pub and Waterhole.
The latter, an excellent camp site, is on the Wilson River and the two are
within perfect walking distance of each other.

Brolgas displaying in grasslands near the Diamantina Channels.

And while we're on it, there's also another Big B Bird that you'll almost certainly encounter in a trip to the region.

Male Australian Bustard Ardeotis australis, Farrans Creek west of Windorah.
He stands about 120cm tall and weighs up to 8kg, which I think
makes him Australia's most massive flying terrestrial bird.
It's always a thrill to see them.

There are of course parrots and cockatoos; here are just a couple of them that you're unlikely to see in less arid areas.

Flock of Cockatiels Nymphicus hollandicus, Bladensburg NP.
Australia's smallest cockatoo, chattery flocks of them can turn up
anywhere in the Channel Country.

Bourke's Parrot Neopsephotus bourkii west of Windorah.
I'd not normally inflict quite such an ordinary photo on you, but I've
always found these very hard to approach and photograph, so it's a case
of something hopefully being better than nothing.
They're found across central Australia west from the Channel Country,
not really rare but shy and quite cryptic, though when seen well their
softly pink undersides and blue rump are truly lovely.

There are lots of birds of prey, especially the ubiquitous Black Kites and Whistling Kites along the waterways, but here's one that not nearly as common, though it can turn up across most of the country.

Black Falcon Falco subniger, Bladensburg NP. Other than the semi-mythical (😀)
Grey Falcon this is the least-known of Australian falcons.

And any small lizard or grasshopper would agree that a Red-backed Kingfisher is a predator!

A Red-backed Kingfisher Todiramphus pyrrhopygius at Welford NP, just showing off
its red rump. It is found across much of Australia but is an arid land specialist.
It belongs to a large genus of non-fishing 'tree kingfishers' found from the Philippines
to Australia and across much of the Pacific.

And finally for the birds, a small selection of passerines. The woodswallows are among my favourite bird groups. (Though aerial insect eaters, they are not at all related to swallows and in fact are closest to the magpies and butcherbirds.) In Australia most of the six species are nomads across the dry country, and beyond it during droughts. They often appear in large flocks near water in the evenings, and will arrive in big numbers when the eucalypts are flowering, when they feed on the nectar..

A very small part of a mixed flock of White-browed and Masked Woodswallows
in front of storm clouds west of Windorah.

White-browed Woodswallows Artamus superciliosus;
female above south of Jundah and
male below at our Morney Creek camp.
He in particular is a most striking bird.

Black-faced Woodswallow Artamus cinereus, Bladensburg NP.
This one is the most sedentary of Australian woodswallows, so rarely
forms large flocks but is commonly seen along the wires by inland roads.

Of the true swallows the most commonly seen is the pretty little Fairy Martin Petrochelidon ariel. Almost any road culvert, especially when water is present, is likely to host a nesting colony of them, such as this one west of Windorah. 

The mud nests are bottle-shaped when separate, but when the colony is crowded
the nests may merge into each other.

Here's another colony, at Farrans Creek, in a situation that I'd never seen before.

The flood monitoring equipment sits on a platform a few metres above the ground
(and the flood waters) by the creek. The Fairy Martins found the underside of
the platform to be an eminently suitable nesting site.

The Spotted Bowerbird Chlamydera maculata is one of three closely related
arid land bowerbirds, but the only one restricted to eastern Australia.
This one was inspecting our creek-side camp at Bladensburg NP.

One of the delights of arid Australia, including the Channel Country, are the tootling
little flocks of Zebra Finches Taeniopygia castanotis which come to drink at any water
at any time of day. I keep meaning to dedicate a whole blog post to them one day; I just
need one more photo... :-) The most suprising thing about this photo is that there
is just one Zebra Finch in it!

Finally, a fascinating little visitor that came hopping around our feet at the
Morney Creek camp. She is a normally shy female Black Honeyeater Sugomel nigrum,
though only he is actually black (and white). They are tiny, not much more than 10cm long.

Finally she revealed her purpose, by taking ash from our (now cold) fire. This has been
reported before but it's only the second time I've seen it. It is suggested that they are
seeking calcium to assist in egg shell formation (only females have been reported
doing so) but it's so far just speculation. A fascinating behaviour to watch anyway!

Reptiles are diverse and abundant in the Channel Country, but as I mentioned earlier we're usually there in the colder months. Accordingly most of the following reptiles were encountered on our April visit to Bladensburg NP near Winton.

Gilbert's Dragon or Ta Ta Lizard Amphibolurus gilberti, Bladensburg NP.
They 'wave' to other males to indicate territoriality. This young lizard, even if
it were a male, would not dare bring trouble on itself by such effrontery.

Yellow-spotted Monitor Varanus panoptes, Bladensburg NP, visiting camp,
doubtless based on previous positive outcomes. This large goanna is found widely
across northern and western Australia, but has suffered badly from the arrival
of Cane Toads.

Eyrean Earless Dragon Tympanocryptis tetraporophora, Bladensburg NP.
This blunt-faced little dragon is found widely across the Lake Eyre Basin.
(I, with no expertise in this genus, had previously identified it as Gibber Earless
Dragon T. intima, but on further investigation I've changed my mind. Any
assistance gratefully received!)

Central Bearded Dragon Pogona vitticeps, west of Windorah, with head comfortably pillowed on
a dry cow pat! It had braved a day that was far too cold for it, and was unable to flee from us.

Here are some obvious large mammals, for the record.

Dingo Canis lupus or C. familiaris (it really still isn't clear which, ie wolf or ancient
domestic dog) west of Windorah. Despite constant persecution, they can still be
seen or heard across most of the arid inland.

Red Kangaroos Osphranter rufus, mother and semi-independent young,
Welford NP. The largest living marsupial and Australian land mammal,
superbly adapted to life on the open plains.

Euro Osphranter robustus (and bonus Spinifex Pigeons) Bladensburg NP.
This stocky kangaroo is found across most of the continent but is especially
associated with rocky hills.

And finally some invertebrates, a pretty random selection! I'll start with an event that I've only seen once, on a trip to the Channel Country 15 years ago when it had been wet but we were able to drive west from Winton into the Diamantina Channels on a bitumen road. The event was a remarkable mass movement of slaters (or 'flood bugs' as they're also known) along the edge of the road in cracking black soil Mitchell Grass country. The thing is it only seems to happen following rain, and you don't drive in that country then, unless you have the luxury of bitumen.

Slaters Australiodillo bifrons, on the move! They are not insects but crustaceans, and
specifically isopods (like many marine and shoreline animals), and are very ancient. You'll find
some by looking in your compost heap or under rocks or wood in your garden.

More of the massed slaters on the road verge. I did a post on them many years
ago, which has a lot more information if you're interested.

And of course there are spiders, especially orb weavers near water where there are lots of flying insects.

Orbweb spider Family Araneidae, Morney Creek 115k west of Windorah.
She has a row of neatly packaged lunches above her.

The rest are insects.

Grasshopper (sorry I can't do better) and tracks on a dune west of Windorah.

Under certain conditions (which I wrote about here quite briefly long ago, at the very start of my blogging career) four Australian grasshopper species suddenly increase dramatically in number and start to move, causing great alarm in agricultural communities but a providing a massive food source to many other animals too.

Spur-throated Locusts Austracris guttulosa south-west of Quilpie,
above and below.

Moths and butterflies are of course everywhere; here are just a couple of Channel Country species. The same rain event that spurred the flood bugs into action also produced a major breeding flurry west of Windorah among very beautiful White-lined Hawk Moths Hyles livornicoides.

White-lined Hawk Moths mating, and caterpillar (below) travelling
presumably to find a suitable patch of sand for pupating. This was
an impressive event to witness.

Chequered Swallowtail Papilio demoleus, Morney Creek. I have seen this
butterfly referred to as 'perhaps the most widely distributed swallowtail in the world',
so not at all limited to the Channel Country, but I'm happy to see them anywhere.

And to end, another encounter that was due to the rains, a great gathering of water striders in an ephemeral pond between the dunes west of Windorah.

Water striders are bugs (ie members of the insect order Hemiptera, not just
'creepy crawlies'!), with very long middle and hind legs to distribute their
weight enough to walk on the water surface, where they hunt smaller animals.
We can see the long legs in this somewhat muddy closeup.

And that's probably a bit more than enough from me this time! I hope you can experience the wonders of the Channel Country and enjoy them as we have. And you only have to walk on the dunes in the morning to realise how much else goes on at night! Thanks for reading.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 6 MARCH

I love to receive your comments and in future will be notifying you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. All current subscribers have been added to this mailing list and have already been contacted. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it.
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