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Black-throated Blues as fruit eaters?
- To: "'carolinabirds@duke.edu'" <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
- Subject: Black-throated Blues as fruit eaters?
- From: "Travis, Ginger" <Ginger@athena.dev.unc.edu>
- Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 09:52:06 -0400
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Re John Fussell's posting about the Black-throated Blue Warbler eating
grapes in his yard -- I wonder too about this species as a fruit eater. This
morning I saw an adult male Black-throated Blue hopping around in a leafless
Black Gum tree outside my window. Through binoculars I saw the warbler perch
near 3 different gum fruits (which are the first I've seen on this young
tree) and appear to examine and probe around the fruit. I kept waiting for
the bird either to pull it off and swallow it whole or to nibble off some
pulp, the way I've seen a pine warbler do to a dogwood fruit, but the B-T
Blue just looked at the fruit and probed the base of it briefly with its
bill. So I was left wondering if this bird was only checking the fruit for
insects.
Several years ago I saw a female Black-throated Blue sip nectar from a
hummingbird feeder in my yard.
If anyone knows more about what Black-throated Blues eat, do tell!
Ginger_Travis@unc.edu
Chapel Hill, NC