Saturday, March 3, 2018

Nutty - and a Bit Buggy?

Allow me to introduce you to another of my favorite unassuming but awesome little birds.


The white-breasted nuthatch is a lovely addition to the backyard bird population.


While these birds enjoy nuts of all kinds - peanuts and peanut butter, sunflower hearts, as well as suet in my yard during the winter months, they also do a lot of good work ridding the world of unpleasant buggy things. 


They are usually found clinging to the sides of trees (often upside down) poking around in the bark crevices looking for tasty insects.



Some of the bugs they help keep in check include icky things like weevil and  wood-boring beetle larvae, as well as other kinds of beetles, sap sucking tree hoppers and scale insects, ants, gall fly larvae, caterpillars (including gypsy moths and tent caterpillars, both of which are very hard on trees), stinkbugs, and click beetles.


I have to think that the trees really appreciate their efforts - all those borers, sap suckers and leaf-eaters have to itch something awful! (I know, vivid imagination...)



Besides, who could possibly resist that pert little face? Not I!

So, don't be too surprised if I end up turning this photographic character study into a carving or two in the near future. 

No comments: