Growing up in California where eucalyptus trees from Australia are widely
naturalized It is very Abundantly seen that yellow-rumped warblers love to
feed in eucalyptus flowers . As a result they get some sappy material all
over their face that then has other dirt and grime stick to it . They look
like a mess and it is sometimes fatal to them . I might say it's frequently
fatal to them . So in this case I'm not sure whether they were going for
some sort of nectar Or For insects attracted to the nectar . I would guess
the former because you would think they could pick the insects out Without
getting the sappy sugary material all over their face . I didn't try it but
I think Googling it would give a lot of information . About the eucalyptus
trees that is . Bob O'Brien Portland
On Tuesday, February 2, 2021, Dennis Paulson <
dennispaulson at comcast.net>
wrote:
>
Ed, we have Townsend's every winter coming to suet feeders. Quite a few
>
times I have seen one land on a hummingbird feeder and apparently take some
>
sugar water from along the edge where we had spilled it when filling the
>
feeder. Yellow-rumped are also around all winter, but I haven't seen one do
>
that.
>
>
Dennis Paulson
>
Seattle
>
>
On Feb 1, 2021, at 10:32 PM, <EdSwan2 at Comcast.net> <EdSwan2 at Comcast.net>
>
wrote:
>
>
Our neighbors have a large old mahonia bush with many yellow blossoms that
>
blooms for much of the winter. Anna's Hummingbirds fight to protect this
>
territory a lot and I was surprised to see a Townsend's Warbler able to
>
forage in the bush without being attacked several times recently. This
>
morning, I noticed that the female Townsend's appeared to be inserting its
>
beak into the flowers like it was accessing nectar as opposed to gleaning
>
for insects.
>
>
Is that a known foraging behavior for Townsend's? I have seen them drink
>
from a hummingbird feeder before but I have not seen them try nectar
>
feeding from plants. Cornell's Birds of the World doesn't really have that
>
much information on their diet. It does mention that they drink honeydew
>
from scale insects in Central America, which I thought was interesting.
>
>
It was a good warbler day with Townsend's, Orange-crowned and
>
Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warblers all getting suet from the suet feeder or
>
hopping on the ground to get suet bits dislodged by a flicker.
>
>
Ed in West Seattle
>
>
Ed Swan
>
Nature writer and guide
>
www.theswancompany.com
>
edswan2 at comcast.net
>
206.949.3545
>
>
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