Re: Ceratonykus braincase described

[Dr Ronald Orenstein <ron.orenstein@rogers.com>]

With respect to myrmecophagous birds, there are certainly birds that eat ants 
as a major part of their diet. I beleive this is true of flickers (Colaptes) 
and it is certainly true of Australian treecreepers (Climacteridae) which I 
studied (including stomach content analyses) for my doctoral thesis - these 
birds are certainly not flightless, though most of their flights are from high 
on one tree to lower (or to the ground) on the next. I have no data on their 
metabolic rates. 

Ronald Orenstein 
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, ON
Canada L5L 3W2

On 2011-04-30, at 12:13 PM, Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com> wrote:

> David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at> wrote:
> 
> I also note that AFAIK there are no known myrmecophagous birds.  There
> are birds that include ants or termites in their diets, but no bird
> has these particular social insects as major components.  Presumably,
> any myrmecophagous birds (if bioenergetically feasible) would be
> flightless.