{"id":74435,"date":"2019-08-12T04:33:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T10:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=74435"},"modified":"2019-08-12T05:03:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T11:03:33","slug":"a-possible-yellow-warbler-strategy-for-feeding-on-aphids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/12\/a-possible-yellow-warbler-strategy-for-feeding-on-aphids\/","title":{"rendered":"A Possible Yellow Warbler Strategy For Feeding On Aphids"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s only a working theory but I believe it’s based on fairly strong circumstantial evidence.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning in the mountains I spent considerable time trying to follow this extremely<\/em> uncooperative Yellow Warbler with my lens as it foraged in the willows. Warblers are known to skulk in the bushes and rarely come out fully into the open but this one took that tendency to extremes. It was reasonably close for a very long time but only came out into the open sporadically and when it did it was nearly always for only an instant so my frustration level was high.<\/p>\n

In this view we see that “his” tail is growing out most likely after molting and that there are aphids all over the tip of his bill. I never see them capturing the aphids off the leaves because aphid colonies are nearly always on the undersides of the leaves where I can’t see them. The warblers reach beneath the leaves to get at them. I’ve always assumed that they typically grasp individual aphids, or small groups of aphids, between their mandibles as a method of capture just like many other insectivorous birds.<\/p>\n

But based on these and other photos I’ve taken this summer I’ve become more skeptical of that assumption.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Aphids are notoriously sticky. As they feed they secrete large amounts of a sticky substance known as honeydew. That’s what attracts some ant species to aphids so they can “milk” the honeydew in their well-known aphid farming operation. Here there are aphids stuck all over the tips of both mandibles.<\/p>\n

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In a huge crop of the previous image we see the bird using his tongue to pull the aphids into his mouth.<\/p>\n

When I’m photographing Yellow Warbler adults and juveniles foraging on aphids they often, even usually, have large numbers of aphids stuck to the outside of their bills. That makes me wonder if their feeding strategy isn’t to sweep the tips of their bills through the aphid colonies so they’ll stick to their bills and then they can lick them off once they’ve been captured that way. If so that may be why I see so many aphids stuck to their bills and it’s different from any other feeding strategy I’ve observed.<\/p>\n

Speculation to some degree to be sure but based on what I’ve seen and photographed it makes sense to me.<\/p>\n

Much ado about nothing? Not to me it isn’t.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n