|
FORAGING TECHNIQUE |
DIET |
Primary Technique |
Secondary Techniques |
SHOREBIRDS |
Killdeer |
forages only on ground |
|
75% insects, incl. 37% beetles; 21% other inverts such as centipedes, spiders, ticks, worms, snails, crustaceans; 2% weed seeds |
DOVES |
Mourning Dove |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
99% seeds, incl. waste seeds from cultivated fields |
WOODPECKERS |
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
bark gleans |
gleans foliage also frequently feeds on the ground (ABB) |
insects; also acorns, nuts, fruits, seeds |
Northern Flicker |
forages on ground |
hawks; gleans bark |
insects, esp. ants (more than any other North American bird); occasionally seeds, acorns, nuts, grain.
ABB states that predation from domestic cats (along with pesticides and competition from starlings) suggests continued monitoring of this bird's population |
JAYS & CROWS |
Blue Jay |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
highly varied; 75% plants (acorns, beech nuts, fruits, weed seeds); also insects, small birds; eggs, grains, fruits |
American Crow |
forages only on ground |
|
omnivore; insects, seeds (esp. corn, fruits, nuts), small mammals, birds, nestlings, bird eggs, reptiles, amphibians, garbage, road kill |
Fish Crow |
forages on ground |
small trees, shrubs |
omnivore; crustaceans, small fish, aquatic invertebrates; grain, fruits, small birds & mammals; many birds eggs, esp. herons & egrets |
WRENS |
Carolina Wren |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage & bark |
insects, esp. ants, bees, wasps; in in winter, poison ivy & bayberry berries |
House Wren |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
insects, esp. bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, moths, caterpillars, beetles |
THRUSHES |
Veery |
forages on ground |
swoops; gleans foliage |
insects, esp. beetles, ants, caterpilars, grasshoppers, spiders |
Wood Thrush |
forages on ground |
foliage gleans |
mostly insects, incl. spiders; fruit often over one-third of diet |
American Robin* |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
insects; plus earthworms, snails; variety of fruits & seeds; young feed exclusively worms & insects |
MIMICK THRUSHES |
Gray Catbird |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
about 50% of diet is insects, esp. crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, ants, caterpillars; also fruits, berries, grapes; young feed almost 100% insects |
Northern Mockingbird |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
in summer, primarily insects, incl. beetles, ants, bees, wasps, grasshoppers, sowbugs; also crayfish; berries in winter |
Brown Thrasher |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
insects, incl. beetles, grasshoppers, ants; also small vertebrates, berries, fruits, nuts; ABB says its ground feeding in open areas makes it vulnerable to pesticides |
STARLINGS |
European Starling |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
insects, other invertebrates, berries |
WOOD WARBLERS |
Ovenbird |
forages only on ground |
|
insects, incl. earthworms, beetles, crickets, ants |
Kentucky Warbler |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage, rarely more than 3' up |
insects among leaves & debris, under roots & logs; plus a few berries |
TANAGERS, CARDINALS & ALLIES |
Northern Cardinal |
forages primarily on ground |
|
insects in warm months; mostly seeds in winter; young fed grubs, other insects |
Indigo Bunting |
gleans foliage |
forages on ground |
caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers; some grains & fleshy fruits |
EMBERIZINE SPARROWS & ALLIES |
Eastern Towhee |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
mostly insects, incl. beetles, moths, caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, ants, bees; by scratching at dead leaves; also many ragweed seeds; some berries |
Field Sparrow |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
50% insects, esp. beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, plus few spiders; also seeds of forbs & grasses; young fed 100% insects & spiders |
Song Sparrow |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
in spring, 54% plant food; in fall, 92% plant food, in fall, incl. seeds of grasses & forbs; in spring & summer, 40% insects; some berries |
ICTERIDS |
Common Grackle |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
insects, crustaceans, other inverts, fish, small verts, bird eggs, nestlings; fruit, grain, grass & forb seeds, acorns, nuts; young fed 75% insects & spiders; steals food from other ground feeders, esp. robins |
Brown-headed Cowbird |
forages only on ground |
|
insects, incl. spiders; few snails; grain, grass, & forb seeds |
FINCHES & OLD WORLD SPARROWS |
House Finch |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
more than 90% seeds, incl. sunflower & weed seeds; fruits; feeds young almost entirely seeds |
American Goldfinch |
gleans foliage |
forages on ground |
in spring, animal food 50% of diet, esp. aphids & caterpillars; in other seasons, almost no animal food, instead seeds of deciduous trees (esp. sweet gum) and of forbs (esp. thistle, ragweed, composites), grasses, floral buds, berries |
House Sparrow |
forages on ground |
gleans foliage |
96% plants, esp. corn, wheat, seeds & buds of many trees; nestlings fed mostly insects |
Data compiled by Michael Wilpers from Chandler Robbins, senior ed., & Eirik Blom, project coordinator,
Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996).
Some information also from Ehrich, Dobkin, & Wheye,
The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds (Simon & Schuster, 1988).
Breeding birds of Sligo taken from talk to the Friends of Sligo Creek by Gail Mackiernan, and from her chapter on Sligo Creek
in A Birder's Guide to Montgomery County, Maryland (Mont. Co. Chapter, Md. Ornithological Society, 2002).