There are believed to be around 10 quintillion individual insects alive on our favorite planet. That’s a 10 with 18 zeros behind it. Approximately 55,000 species of insects can be found in Canada; the giant water bug is most likely the biggest in our country. Around 90 percent of bird species rely on insects as food during some part of their lives. It’s believed that insectivorous birds around the world eat 400 to 500 million metric tons of beetles, flies, ants, moths, aphids, grasshoppers, crickets, and others. There are numerous places around the world where people get their protein from consuming insects as part of their overall diet. On the day I took these images, I enjoyed a few hours watching several species of birds, including the Yellow-rumped Warbler, making lunch of the insects fallen in the air and on the water.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
In October, I don’t get too many opportunities to get bird pictures until spring. So, on a cool, sunny morning when I heard a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Down went the backpack and out came the camera. Thinking I would have a few minutes before the kinglets moved on, I ended up spending a couple of hours that morning taking pictures. They were busy looking for food among the balsam poplar trees, which still had their golden leaves. The rubies were joined by few Golden-crowned Kinglets, as well with a Yellow-rumped Warbler, three to four White-crowned Sparrow, one Golden-crowned Sparrow, a couple of Mountain Chickadees and late to the party but still appreciated, one Downy Woodpecker. The goal was simple that morning, to get pictures of any one of the birds among the fall leaves. It can be challenging trying to get decent pictures with the small birds moving among the leaves, but the payoff was worth it. I kept the Sun behind me and the birds in front of me as I moved back and forth, taking pictures of the bird that was visible. The sparrows were spending time on the ground among the fallen leaves, while the others moved from branch to branch looking for insect related food. The conditions were great for the type of pictures I wanted, time passed quickly as I kept busy taking pictures before the birds moved on.
Yellow-rumped Warbler and Brown-headed Cowbird
Why is this adult Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding a juvinile Brown-headed Cowbird that is twice its size. Well, the cowbird does not build its own nest, instead it lays eggs in the other bird nests. Where the cowbird egg will hatch faster than that of the host species, giving the cowbird a head start getting the food from its host parent. As well the cowbird will develop faster and sometimes push out the eggs or the young nestlings or just smother them at the bottom of the nest. The host parent does know any better and ends up raising a Brown-headed Cowbird.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
These days the mornings are great time to be outside. More and more birds are returning and the air is filled with the sounds of birds. This warbler was busy looking for food and happen to pause long enough to ge this picture.
Until next moment,
Amar