Recently Bob Righter posed some interesting questions on COBIRDS about what an
individual Say's Phoebe he observed recently in the Denver area might be
getting to eat under eaves. Once I got past my amazement that Bob is related
by marriage to someone 103 years old, my private response to Bob guessed the
answer might include European Paper Wasps (Polistes dominula), an introduced
black-and-yellow wasp closely resembling a typical "yellowjacket" that reached
CO in the early 2000s. They form small combs under eaves and have become quite
common. By contrast, most yellowjacket wasps species nest in the ground, with
two nesting in aerial "hives" in trees with the combs being surrounded by an
elaborate, round, gray paper mache covering. Unhatched immature European Paper
Wasps, dead or alive, in white-capped cells of these combs would seem the most
likely source of nutrition for a curious insectivore investigating eaves.
Flycatchers are known to favor bees and wasps, in some situations as much or
more than flies. My reply to Bob included photos of the wasp and a related
situation of a pewee with a yellowjacket in it bill. Bob suggested I post this
to COBIRDS. Thinking the photos were a significant part of the response, and
since photo sharing on COBIRDS is difficult (why is that?), I didn't take him
up on his suggestion. Then he wondered further if perhaps what seems like more
wintering Say's Phoebes this year than normal could be directly tied to the
increasing presence of European Paper Wasps on our scene. I told him without
direct evidence, it was a stretch, but a question worth continuing to
investigate.
So, I am asking, has anyone out there seen a Say's Phoebe visiting a little
wasp comb under an eave? Have you seen any other bird species tearing apart a
wasp comb under an eave (flicker, barn swallow, etc.)? Inquiring minds want to
know. Assuming, hoping, some meaty anecdotes are out there, this might be the
subject of a future "The Hungry Bird" column in "Colorado Birds". Thanks.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/SNT148-W2773D0BD9313289BB62A3C1D00%40phx.gbl.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
