I have observed Townsend's warblers foraging in my mahonia over the years. They always appear to be eating the blossoms as opposed to drinking nectar from them.
Zora Dermer
Seattle
Sent from my iPhone
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On Feb 2, 2021, at 7:18 AM, Paul Bannick <paul.bannick at gmail.com> wrote:
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yes, this is common with the winter blooming Mahonia Arthur Menzies
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On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 7:09 AM Robert O'Brien <baro at pdx.edu> wrote:
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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
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On Tuesday, February 2, 2021, Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net> wrote:
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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.
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Dennis Paulson
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Seattle
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On Feb 1, 2021, at 10:32 PM, <EdSwan2 at Comcast.net> <EdSwan2 at Comcast.net> wrote:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Ed in West Seattle
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Ed Swan
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Nature writer and guide
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www.theswancompany.com
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edswan2 at comcast.net
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206.949.3545
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