Question: I recently encountered a dead Laughing Gull on the beach with a fish in its mouth. Could have he choked on this? Ive seen birds eating extremely large items without any apparent problem.
Response: A Google search didnt result in many responses. When humans choke, its because food (often poorly chewed) gets lodged in their trachea. A birds tongue shape and grooved mouth aid in food movement past the tracheal opening, or glottis, and into the esophagus (food tube). Food passing into the trachea, the cause of most human choking, is not the answer. Birds often dont shred their food, opting to swallow the food whole (more on this later). The examples of a bird actually choking is when the item being eaten is so large it blocks the opening to the trachea, cutting off air movement. Two examples noted were a Great Blue Heron swallowing a lamprey or a Northern Saw-whet Owl (7 inches) attempting to swallow a Peromyscus mouse (5-8 inches long). The picture sent along with the question showed the majority of the fish outside the Laughing Gulls mouth. Therefore it was more likely the Laughing Gull had attempted to ingest a fish with a hook that then kept the bird from naturally expelling the oversized meal. It would not have been a pleasant death which reminds us all to use care with hooks while fishing.
So how do birds eat large prey? Some birds will shred the item into bite size pieces. Thats likely how this Osprey ate this big fish or this Red-tail Hawk had its squirrel stew.
Without the teeth and chewing muscles that humans have, birds often swallow their food whole. While some birds may rip apart their prey, or they may break up a seed, many species, such as herons and pelicans, are frequently reliant on the ol tip your head back and down the hatch method. Bob Mercer saw this Great Blue Heron swallow this fish whole it took a while but he got it done. We assume the Black-crown Night Heron used the same method for his frog.
I know we watched this Great Blue Heron toss and turn and had this eel wrapped around its beak before it finally swallowed it whole on Ocean Winds golf course in April.
An article in the Victoria Advocate explains A bird that eats fish whole will orient a fish head first when swallowing it so that the fins cant expand and injure the birds esophagus on the way down. Something that all fish-eating birds also share is a specialized digestive system. In order to digest a fish whole, a bird requires a two-chambered stomach. The first chamber secretes acid, which helps break down the bones and scales when the bird swallows a fish whole. The second part of the stomach, called the gizzard, grinds up pieces of food into much smaller pieces.
Many of us has seen Anhingas spear fish but I havent seen the process it uses to eat it. My thought is the down the hatch method. As I researched, I didnt find an answer but did find that in addition to fish they also can eat small turtles or alligators.
Although not too large, some seed eating birds also use the swallow whole method, depending upon small stones in their crop to aid in digestion. The crop is a flexible sack just under the skin of a birds throat thats actually carried outside the body cavity. Many species of birds use their crops to temporarily store food making their crop bulge when they over eat. I wonder if this Eastern Bluebird with its grasshopper by Palmetto Lake used the shred method or down the hatch method.
Researching this article resulted in me wanting to do more research on how different birds beaks evolved to accommodate what they eat. Stay tuned!
SEABROOK ISLAND BIRDERS / watching, learning, protecting Seabrook Island Birders (SIB) are residents, renters and guests of Seabrook Island, SC who have an interest in learning, protecting and providing for the well-being of the incredible variety of birds that inhabit Seabrook Island throughout the year. View all posts by sibirders
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It gives advantages to certain species but can make life and survival harder for others, warns an ornithologist.
A lot of people in Norway enjoy feeding birds, especially during the winter.
Among the wild birds that gain the most from humans placing food outside is the robust species known as the great tit, or Parus major.
Tore Slagsvold says, “It’s okay that people are interested in birds and feed them, but when they go overboard this can be a setback for other bird species.”
He teaches at the University of Oslo’s CEES, or Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis. Slagsvold studies the behavior, procreation, and environmental adaptations of great tits and other birds.
He cautions against overfeeding and advises people to stop providing food for wild birds in the spring, following Easter.
Leaving food out for birds well into the spring can have the unintended consequence of luring them into nesting too soon. Then, before there is enough food for them in the wild, their chicks hatch too soon.
Slagsvold feeds wild birds as well, and he sees definite benefits to carrying on as long as we stay within reasonable bounds.
Naturally, seeing birds at a feeder brings us joy and helps a lot of birds survive the winter when the snow is deep and covers bushes and trees. .
As its name implies, the great tit is the largest variety of what Americans refer to as chickadees, and Britons as tits. They can be found throughout Europe, Asia, North and Western Africa, and even Japan.
According to Slagsvold, one drawback of excessive feeding is that it increases the survival rate of great tits, which tips the odds against other species, such as the European pied flycatcher [Ficedula hypoleuca].
The great tit does not drill its own holes in trees; instead, it builds its nests in holes it finds or in outdoor birdhouses that people erect. These areas are useful for hiding from crows, magpies, and house cats, among other enemies. Great tit populations grow because, according to Slagsvold, they take over nesting locations that other species could have used for their own eggs.
Furthermore residentthat is, not migratingis the great tit. In the Nordic countries, for example, it spends the entire winter, which is to its advantage.
“A long-distance flyer, like the European pied flycatcher, which arrives in North America from Africa late in the spring, may face significant challenges in locating a nesting location. Slagsvold claims that there is nowhere for them to hide and no shelter.
He says that if we keep putting bread crumbs or seeds and nuts in feeders well into spring, we run the risk of the birds growing accustomed to and dependent on artificial food sources.
On the other hand, birds like the flycatcher will have a better chance of locating a place to nest when they migrate north if we stop feeding them around Easter and put birdhouses high in the trees.
The biology professor remarks, “More and more of us, including myself, also feed birds at our mountain cabins.”
However, do we go overboard to the point where it ruins things for other species in this ecosystem, like the rare grey-headed chickadee? .
In Southern Norway, this species is in danger of going extinct, and one theory suggests that the great tit is outcompeting them. Slagsvold has previously observed the grey-headed chickadee in the Hedmark County forest east of the Rondane Mountains, but not in recent years.
Slagsvold encourages people to build birdhouses in order to aid in the survival of specific species.
This is something that everyone who feeds birds should do. And not just one birdhouse:
Place two, or better yet, three, at a distance of roughly 20 to 30 meters apart. The European pied flycatcher will then have space in the third after the great tit takes the first and the blue tit (Parus caeureleus) the second, according to him.
An excessive gap between the birdhouses may not be beneficial.
“We get tits in every birdhouse if we place them too far apart.” They are all within the domain of a great tit pair if they are 20 to 30 meters apart. The tits will then exclude all other species, but not the flycatchers or the blue tits. .
According to Slagsvold, installing a single birdhouse gives the same birds that we have been providing food for all winter far too much of an advantage.
Then they will hatch a lot of new recruits.
One option is to postpone installing birdcages in the trees until after the great tits have begun to build their nests. According to the professor, in Norway, that entails waiting until the beginning of May.
Slagsvold claims that although many people in Norway enjoy feeding wild birds, Norwegians are not the most enthusiastic about this practice. People in many other nations, like the USA and Great Britain, seem to be more fascinated by birds than Norwegians are.
People in the UK purchase twice as much birdfeeders and birdseed as people on the Continent. A recent study suggests that the British people’s enthusiasm may have even led to the great tit beaks growing longer.
“It’s not our intention to try and compete at the same level as England, but I do believe it’s beneficial to set some groundwork.” According to Slagsvold, it increases our appreciation of nature and aids in the preservation of species and ecosystems.
If you watch the live webcam at Zoom, even if you’re not a big fan of birds, you might change your mind. No, from a Nesodden garden in Akershus County, a short distance outside of Oslo:
Translated by: Glenn Ostling
Sciencenorway. no brings you science news from Norway. This is the English version of forskning. no, Norways independent, online newspaper on science. Sciencenorway. no har artikler fra forskning. no på engelsk.
I recall seeing this Great Blue Heron at Ocean Winds Golf Course tossing and turning this eel around its beak until it swallowed it whole in April.
Response: A Google search didnt result in many responses. Food that has been poorly chewed can become lodged in the trachea of humans, causing them to choke. Food travels more easily through a bird’s grooved mouth and shaped tongue past the glottis, the tracheal opening, and into the esophagus (food tube). Food getting into the trachea, which is the main reason why people choke, is not the solution. Birds frequently swallow their food whole rather than shredding it (more on this later). When something a bird is eating gets so big that it obstructs the trachea’s opening and stops the bird from breathing, that bird is said to be choking. Two instances that were observed were a Northern Saw-whet Owl (7 inches) trying to ingest a Peromyscus mouse (5-8 inches long) and a Great Blue Heron consuming a lamprey. The bulk of the fish were visible outside the Laughing Gull’s mouth in the image that was sent with the inquiry. The Laughing Gull most likely tried to swallow a fish with a hook, which prevented the bird from naturally expelling the large meal. It would not have been a happy ending, which serves as a reminder to all of us to fish with caution when using hooks.
Because they lack human teeth and chewing muscles, birds frequently swallow their food whole. Some birds, like pelicans and herons, often depend on the old “tip your head back and down the hatch method,” but other species may tear apart their prey or break up a seed. Bob Mercer witnessed this Great Blue Heron finish the entire fishit just took him a little while. We presume the Black-crown Night Heron handled his frog in the same way.
Some seed-eating birds, if they are not “too large,” also employ the swallow-whole technique, relying on the small stones in their crop to facilitate digestion. The crop is a flexible sac that is carried outside of the bird’s body cavity and lies just beneath the skin of its throat. Numerous bird species use their crops as temporary food storage, which causes the crops to swell when the birds “over eat.” I wonder if the shred method or the down-the-hatch method was used by this Eastern Bluebird with its grasshopper near Palmetto Lake.
The Seabrook Island Birders (SIB) are a group of people who live, rent, or visit Seabrook Island, South Carolina. They are passionate about learning about, preserving, and ensuring the welfare of the remarkable array of birds that call Seabrook Island home all year round. View all posts by sibirders.
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