What's this little guy called who likes to eat my bees so much?
(http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj72/DSemple/93941e50.jpg)
Appears to be a female Oriole? The wings are normally more pronounce with darker colors but the size, beak type and the way it's sitting fit with an Oriole. http://sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/baltimore_oriole_2.htm (http://sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/baltimore_oriole_2.htm) They're diet changes more to insects when they've got young that need protein. http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Baltimore-Oriole.html (http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Baltimore-Oriole.html)
Last spring I had a young male summer tanager eating bees from my hive in the early mornings. Not over eating, just snacking on a few.
Stella may be onto something. The photo on the thread makes the bird look Robin size to me but if the bird is more Cardinal size I'd say Stella is right. http://sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/scarlet_tanager_2.htm (http://sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/scarlet_tanager_2.htm)
The Scarlet Tanager looks like a closer match from the photo, but she was the size of an Oriole, and my neighbors have an Oriole feeding station. No black or brown on the wings is what's got me stumped. I'll try to get a better picture this evening.
Thanks Drew and Stella.
Don
The pic is a little blurry. (1) a female Scarlet Tanninger (2) an immature Orchard Oriole (3) Somekind of gross beak
I''ve a family of Brown House Wrens picking up the drones and older bees out in front of my hives. I'm leaving them alone right now BUT....
Not a Scarlet Tanager, a Summer Tanager. They are also called a bee bird.
Ill try to attach a link....http://www.birdinginformation.com/birds/tanager/summer-tanager/ (http://www.birdinginformation.com/birds/tanager/summer-tanager/)
Quote from: stella on May 04, 2012, 03:40:51 PM
Not a Scarlet Tanager, a Summer Tanager. They are also called a bee bird.
Ill try to attach a link....http://www.birdinginformation.com/birds/tanager/summer-tanager/ (http://www.birdinginformation.com/birds/tanager/summer-tanager/)
Bingo!
Thanks Stella, I'll make her my 1st entry in my birding list.
Great find Stella! I didn't even know there was something called a Summer Tanager. The photo of it with bees in it's mouth is the cherry on top. I learn something every day.
Happy to be able to give something back on this wonderful forum.
We are not suppose to have them up here in MN so I was skeptical last spring when I ID'd my bee eating bird as a Summer Tanager. My search led me to a Minnesota ornithology forum where bird watchers here had been seeing them.
If you get a chance D Semple, watch the bird as it swoops up to a tree branch with a bee and swipes the bee against a branch to remove the stinger. It is an interesting sight.