Lack of an osmotic constraint on intake rate of the eastern curlew Numenius madagascariensis

Abstract

Rates of food intake in animals consuming abundant prey can be constrained by the rates of digestion or excretion of ingested substances, such as salt, particularly so in the animals that regularly migrate between freshwater and saltwater environments. We tested this hypothesis in a long‐distance migrant shorebird, the eastern curlew Numenius madagascariensis (suborder Charadrii), foraging on intertidal decapods in eastern Australia. We predicted that if food intake rates are constrained osmotically, individuals with access to freshwater and less saline prey (FW group) would have higher rates of food and water intake than individuals with seawater‐only access (SW group). Food intake rates did not differ between the FW and SW groups (0.14 g ash‐free dry mass min−1), nor did the water influx rates (0.75 g min−1). Salt intake rates were lower at FW sites (19.3 versus 23.3 mg NaCl min−1) and overall they were similar to those of marine birds. Food intake rate in the eastern curlew appeared limited by digestive rather than by osmoregulatory capacity.