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R-e Vireo gathers honeysuckle bark



This morning I looked out the window to see something new: a Red-eyed
Vireo stripping outer bark from a native coral honeysuckle vine. As the
bird pulled off each short section of bark, he or she then added the new
bark strip to a growing collection held crosswise in the beak. This was
a pretty neat trick, using the beak to strip bark while also holding a
bundle. Not sure how the bird did that! The crosswise bark strips looked
a lot like a big handlebar mustache. After getting a good beakful of
nesting material, the vireo flew away and didn't return while I was
watching.

The shreddy outer bark of vines and some trees must be a very valuable
resource. I have seen a female cardinal stripping bark from what I
remember as either Japanese honeysuckle or trumpet creeper, and I think
I remember that a Brown-headed Nuthatch who built in a bluebird box used
bark strips that might have been red cedar (long time ago -- so not
sure).

Ginger Travis
Chapel Hill, N.C.





Ginger Travis
Chapel Hill, N.C.