Learned lots of interesting things about psyllid foraging this morning at
Riverside and Fairmount Cemeteries. The other day I said I thought the delayed
emergence of the adult psyllids from fallen leaves would allow them to escape
migrant bird predation. That guess might have been in error. Today I watched
a flock of 350+ Common Grackles with a very few European Starlings land right
under a hackberry with lots of fallen leaves and begin flipping them over like
frenzied solitaire players. Either they knew adult psyllids might be there, or
they were just flipping and adult psyllids happened to be what they found in
greatest abundance. Very interesting, whatever was going on.
At Fairmount Cemetery today:
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (FOS, juv. female) mostly checking out junipers
Nashville Warbler (1, I would say "western" on the basis of incessant
tail-wagging) with yellow-rumps, feasting on hackberry psyllids gleaned from
leaves/bark or pursued into the air after flushing
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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