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Visually Sexing Loggerhead Shrike Lanius Ludovicianus Using Plumage Coloration and Pattern

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Classifying avian drinking behaviour: ecological insights and implications in a changing world.

Shannon R Conradie¹, Marc T Freeman^2,3

¹School of Animal, Plant, and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Ave, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001, South Africa.

Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society

|February 23, 2026

Summary

Avian water dependence is not a simple drinker/non-drinker trait but a flexible continuum. Understanding this drinking behavior is crucial for assessing species

Keywords:

avifauna behavioural ecology drinking eco‐physiology thermoregulation

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Animal Behavior
Climate Change Biology

Background:

Water availability critically impacts animal behavior, physiology, and distribution.
Knowledge gaps exist regarding avian drinking dependence and behaviors, especially under climate change.
Current classifications of avian drinkers versus non-drinkers may oversimplify complex dependencies.

Purpose of the Study:

To review avian reliance on water consumption and factors influencing drinking habits.
To highlight the lack of information on drinking behavior in relation to thermal physiology.
To re-evaluate the classification of avian drinkers and non-drinkers for improved ecological relevance.

Main Methods:

Literature review of avian water consumption patterns and drinking behaviors.
Analysis of abiotic and biotic factors influencing drinking habits.
Critique of dichotomous drinker/non-drinker classifications in climate vulnerability assessments.

Main Results:

Avian water dependence is a flexible continuum, not a binary trait.
Species range from specialist non-drinkers to highly dependent drinkers, influenced by environmental pressures.
A gradient-based approach offers greater ecological relevance than binary classifications.

Conclusions:

The dichotomous classification of drinkers versus non-drinkers is ecologically limited.
Understanding drinking as a flexible, context-dependent trait is vital for climate change vulnerability assessments.
Further research on spatial-temporal trends in water acquisition is needed.