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RE: Goldfinch




For those of you bored with descriptions of what the birds are eating, hit
the delete key.

I've seen our local Goldfinches eating the berries of honeysuckle with great
relish in winter. 

This winter, before all the berries of the Devil's Walking stick were eaten
(contrary to what Zimm and Martin might say about Devil's Walking Stick in
_American Wildlife & Plants_) by a wide variety of birds from Orange-crowned
Warbler to American Robin, a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers was making
regular sojourns to the Devil's Walikng Stick to awkwardly pluck and eat
berries.  Quite often, you could even see their bright yellow bellies as
they clung to the tiny twigs where the berries hung.  Last weekend I noticed
the female around the feeders and assumed she came for suet.  Instead, she
proceeded up the small persimmon tree near the feeders and feasted on nearly
dried up persimmons, puncturing them with a tap of her bill and "licking"
out what was left of the meat of the persimmon.  I guess it is not too much
of a leap from sugary sap to fruit sugars for a Sapsucker.

Donna Bailey
Winnsboro, SC
e-mail: dsbailey@conterra.com
URL: http://www.conterra.com/dsbailey
     "Where are the Birds?  Migration across South Carolina"