What adaptation allows the Red-throated Wryneck to collect massive quantities of ants efficiently?
Answer
A tongue coated in sticky mucus
The Red-throated Wryneck possesses an extraordinary tongue covered in sticky mucus secreted by its salivary glands, allowing it to gather hundreds of ants in one movement.
Related Questions
Within which family is the wryneck classified despite its dietary differences?What is the unifying and primary food source for the entire *Jynx* genus?How does the Eurasian wryneck primarily move while foraging on the ground?What adaptation allows the Red-throated Wryneck to collect massive quantities of ants efficiently?Compared to typical excavating woodpeckers, what is the wryneck's beak primarily adapted for?Which anatomical feature, shared with its woodpecker relatives, aids the wryneck in clinging?Which group of invertebrates is explicitly listed as secondary prey for the Eurasian wryneck?What foraging niche does the wryneck's strategy more closely resemble than that of a typical sapsucker?What is a crucial vulnerability for the Eurasian wryneck population related to their diet?What specific feeding behavior is sometimes documented for the Eurasian wryneck outside of ground foraging?