Food Habits of the Thrushes of the United States — John Shaqi
Food Habits of the Thrushes of the United StatesBeal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Science
Food Habits of the Thrushes of the United States
Beal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Birds; Thrushes -- Food
For this investigation 403 stomachs of the olive-backed thrush were
available, collected in 25 States, the District of Columbia, and
Canada. Florida, Louisiana, and Texas represent the most southern
collections and New Brunswick, Ontario, and Northwest Territory the
most northern. In California 157 stomachs were obtained, which, with
those taken in Oregon and Washington, fairly represent the Pacific
coast region. The whole collection was fairly well distributed over
the nine months from March to November. The food consisted of 63.52
per cent of animal matter to 36.48 per cent of vegetable.
_Animal food._--Beetles of all kinds amount to 16.29 per cent. Of
these 3.14 per cent are the useful Carabidæ. The others belong to
harmful or neutral families. Weevils or snout-beetles (Rhynchophora)
amount to 5.29 per cent, a high percentage for such insects. One
Colorado potato beetle (_Leptinotarsa decemlineata_) was found in a
stomach taken on Long Island. Hymenoptera collectively aggregate 21.50
per cent. Of these, 15.20 per cent are ants--a favorite food of
_Hylocichla_. The remainder (6.30 per cent) were wild bees and wasps.
No honeybees were found. Caterpillars, which rank next in importance
in the food of the olive-back, form a good percentage of the food of
every month represented and aggregate 10.30 per cent for the season.
Grasshoppers are not an important element in the food of thrushes, as
they chiefly inhabit open areas, while _Hylocichla_ prefers thick damp
cover, where grasshoppers are not found. An inspection of the record
shows that most of the orthopterous food taken by the olive-back
consists of crickets, whose habits are widely different from those of
grasshoppers, and which are found under stones, old logs, or dead
herbage. The greatest quantity is taken in August and September. The
average for the season is 2.42 per cent.
Diptera (flies) reach the rather surprisingly large figure of 6.23 per
cent. These insects are usually not eaten to any great extent except
by flycatchers and swallows, which take their food upon the wing. The
flies eaten by the olive-back are mostly crane flies (Tipulidæ) or
March flies (_Bibio_), both in the adult and larval state. Crane flies
are slow of wing and frequent shady places. The larvæ of both groups
are developed in moist ground, and often in colonies of several
hundred. With these habits it is not surprising that they fall an easy
prey to the thrushes.
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