Deciphering Diets

…during reproduction, arguably the most important weeks of a bird’s life, 96% of North American terrestrial birds eat insects and other arthropods.

~Doug Tallamy

Prothonotary Warbler with a beak-full of bugs (click photos to enlarge)

During our recent bout of wet weather, I finally managed to do something that has been on my to-do list for awhile – upload images to a citizen science project called What Do Birds Eat? This is a fascinating effort to learn more about what arthropod species are being eaten by North American birds, especially during nesting cycles. The creator of the site, Dr. Doug Tallamy, is well-known as one of the gurus of the native plants movement from his book, Bringing Nature Home – How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens.  He is also a professor and Chair of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. One of the key…