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
The wood thrush is distributed over the eastern part of the United
States wherever suitable conditions are found. It is a lover of open
groves and bushy pastures, and may be found along little-traveled
roads and near low bushy swamps. The bird is noted for its sweet song,
and many country people who are well acquainted with its notes know
little or nothing of the bird itself. Its favorite time for singing is
in the early evening at the close of a sultry afternoon when a shower
has cooled the air. As a rule, it does not nest in gardens or orchards
and is seldom seen about farm buildings. It is strictly migratory, and
the greater number pass out of the United States in winter, though a
few remain in the Southern States. It usually migrates north in April
or early May.
For the investigation of the food habits of the wood thrush 171
stomachs were available. One of these was collected in Florida in
January and another in Alabama in February, and these two will be
treated separately. The remaining 169 were collected from April to
October, and are fairly well distributed over that time. The food
consisted of 59.59 per cent of animal matter to 40.41 per cent of
vegetable. The greatest quantity of animal food was eaten in April,
the month of arrival from the south, and the least in October, the
month of the return migration.
_Animal food._--Beetles, collectively (20.40 per cent), constitute the
largest item of animal food. Of these, 2.23 per cent are the
predacious ground beetles (Carabidæ), generally considered useful. The
remainder belong to several more or less harmful families, of which
the May-beetle family (Scarabæidæ) amount to 10.17 per cent. Snout
beetles, or weevils (Rhynchophora), are eaten to the extent of 2.16
per cent only, and the wood-boring chick-beetles (Elateridæ) to 2.13
per cent.
Among the various species of these insects were noted the remains of
the well-known Colorado potato beetle (_Leptinotarsa decemlineata_),
in two stomachs, and _Coptocycla signifera_, also injurious to the
potato, in one stomach. Remains of _Otiorhynchus ovatus_, a weevil
destructive to strawberry plants, were found in two stomachs, and in
one other a weevil, _Sphenophorus parvulus_, that injures the roots of
grass. The well-known white grubs that attack grass roots and a host
of other plants are the immature forms of many species of
_Lachnosterna_, of several species of _Euphoria_ and of _Allorhina
nitida_. Of these, remains of _Lachnosterna_ were found in 27 stomachs
and of _Allorhina_ and _Euphoria_ in one each.
[Illustration:
B2084-73
Fig. 1.--Wood thrush (_Hylocichla mustelina_).]
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