I wondered the same thing. I don't know how you'd know for sure unless you followed gulls around with sea stars visible in their bills until something happened...and I don't know if anyone has ever done that. It might take a while! Eric says that it's possible they can't swallow the larger sea stars and eventually have to cough them up. I'll have to watch more carefully to see if I ever notice a gull swallowing a sizable sea star...although that still won't answer the question about how long it takes them to do it (especially from the time they catch it to the time they swallow it completely).
4 comments:
nice shot !! c
Hey Jackie, how long do they stand around with the star half-swallowed? How long until they get it all the way down?
Thanks!
Sarah Ann
Hi, Sarah Ann!
I wondered the same thing. I don't know how you'd know for sure unless you followed gulls around with sea stars visible in their bills until something happened...and I don't know if anyone has ever done that. It might take a while! Eric says that it's possible they can't swallow the larger sea stars and eventually have to cough them up. I'll have to watch more carefully to see if I ever notice a gull swallowing a sizable sea star...although that still won't answer the question about how long it takes them to do it (especially from the time they catch it to the time they swallow it completely).
I wonder how long it took this bird to digest his meal once once he managed to swallow it (if indeed he did).
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