Tuesday 15 August 2017

Eating Sand


    If I remember my biology correctly, birds don’t really have a stomachs like ours that churn up their food.  To get that job done and to get their food ground up, they have to eat small rock particles to do the job.  I spotted these birds out on the driveway swallowing sand to aid their digestion.    
    Birds have a real problem in the winter up here in Canada because of all the snow and ice that covers up the available sources of sand.  As a result many birds gather on the icy highways where sand has been spread to help vehicle traction.  Of course hanging out on highways is very risky behavior and many thousands of birds are hit and killed each winter.

You can view my paintings at:  www.davidmarchant.ca

No comments:

Post a Comment