Birds and the Little Critters

By Michelle Eames

Last year, my first year of retirement, I decided to learn and relearn native plants and mushrooms.  I’m still not a skilled botanist or mycologist, but it was fun to take the time to look closely at the plants and ‘shrooms, and appreciate their forms. 

This year, I thought I would focus on birds.  I have always been a poor birder.  I never really made the time to study them, and somehow missed ornithology in college.  However, after buying a good pair of binoculars, and pulling out the bird books, I have instead been inadvertently drawn to invertebrates. 

Did you know that even seed-eating birds rely heavily on caterpillars to feed their young?  And many moths and their caterpillars are host-plant specific, only living on one species of native plant?  Insect populations are crashing as we remove native habitats.  Without the insects, and caterpillars, we will lose our birds.  However, there is hope.  We can replant native species.  Even in small areas.  Even in cities.  All this I learned from a virtual presentation by Dr. Douglas Tallamy.  See more information on replanting native species and the resultant increased diversity here: https://homegrownnationalpark.org/.  Gardeners can save the world!   I haven’t read Dr. Tallamy’s books yet, but they include:  Nature’s Best Hope, Bringing Nature Home, and the Living Landscape (co-authored with Rick Darke). 

Another book that has increased my interest in invertebrates is Sue Hubbell’s Waiting for Aphrodite:  Journeys into the Time Before Bones.  She is a wonderful writer, and pulls you into the world of invertebrates, including millipedes, earthworms, horseshoe crabs, fireflies and bees.  Why have I never heard of this author?  Amazing what I can learn when I turn off Netflix and take time to read. 

I’m still working on my birds, though.  Last week we had four killdeer near our seasonal pond.  Do killdeer eat caterpillars?  Why yes they do, see the source below.

Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus. 

Diet: Mostly insects. Feeds on a wide variety of insects, including beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, fly larvae, many others; also eats spiders, earthworms, centipedes, crayfish, snails. Eats small amounts of seeds as well.

Source: https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/killdeer