Northern Mockingbird - Moquer polyglotte
I am unused to this species and so I was pretty shocked to find it (a) eating Sumac and (b) more or less unconcerned about my presence. It was a migration highlight from my visit to Prince Edward County a month or so ago. A pair of the species were quite active for a couple of days before they moved on, heading northward.
I always feel a bit worried when birds are eating Sumac - my sense is that it is the bottom of the winter/spring barrel, and a sign that birds are frustrated nutritionally. I may be wrong but it seems like the bird equivalent of crackers: better than nothing, but barely. The weather was windy and cool, and the insects were driven down low or sent into hiding. Warblers too seemed a bit frantic, but they did not stoop to Sumac.
Northern Mockingbird - Moquer polyglotte
I am unused to this species and so I was pretty shocked to find it (a) eating Sumac and (b) more or less unconcerned about my presence. It was a migration highlight from my visit to Prince Edward County a month or so ago. A pair of the species were quite active for a couple of days before they moved on, heading northward.
I always feel a bit worried when birds are eating Sumac - my sense is that it is the bottom of the winter/spring barrel, and a sign that birds are frustrated nutritionally. I may be wrong but it seems like the bird equivalent of crackers: better than nothing, but barely. The weather was windy and cool, and the insects were driven down low or sent into hiding. Warblers too seemed a bit frantic, but they did not stoop to Sumac.