Date: 3/27/26 5:10 am From: Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> Subject: [NFLbirds] End-of-season
I went walking at Phipps Park this week and watched a Blue Jay high in an
oak. All winter long, I have been watching jays fly into oak canopies,
searching for acorns. This time, however, the jay fluttered in the air and
grabbed a caterpillar off a leaf. Yellow-rumped Warblers were also moving
among the oak branches. Last month these warblers were hunting for the last
of the wax myrtle berries. Today, they were hunting for insects feeding
among oak catkins, the dangly yellowish worm-like male flowers that attract
caterpillars, wasps, and spiders.
We are at the end of the fruiting season when avian usage of fruits, nuts,
and seeds drops off sharply. By late March any tree that hasn’t died over
winter from the effects of drought has at least started leafing out.
Leafout brings bugs out. Newly emerging caterpillars, spiders, flies, bugs,
and bees are now a rich source of nutrients for birds.
I enjoy going beyond identification to take note of bird behavior and have
been tracking which plants they feed on for several years. I usually have
only a handful of feeding observations in April, May, and June. By then,
the acorns, seeds and fruits of oaks, pines, and cabbage palms that have
provided large volumes of winter food, have been mostly exhausted and the
main summer fruiting plants, black cherry, swamp dogwood, grape and
peppervine are just beginning their year. Their fruit won’t be available
until July, when it will provide an additional source of mid-summer food
for newly-fledged birds.
My morning walk that day had a mix of birds. The seasons in North Florida
overlap with no sharp boundaries. This time of year, it can be hard to
determine whether some species are winter birds or migrants. A male
Black-and white Warbler that I saw was likely a migrant from further south.
I am not sure about the yellow-rumps and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. They could
be leftover winter birds or migrants passing through. Both are boreal
nesters and snow still covers most of Canada. In mid-morning, I had three
Common Loons fly over heading due North. They are definitely migrants and
are headed for the Great Lakes and Canada. This is their normal migration
period, but I am not sure how they’ll deal with iced over lakes when they
get there.
I had only a single feeding observation; a female Eastern Bluebird eating
the desiccated fruits of a winged sumac. Occasionally in late Spring or
early summer I find a Red-bellied Woodpecker eating a greenbrier fruit or a
Cardinal munching on a blueberry, but insects are the preferred foodstuff
at this time of year. The fruiting season is essentially over.
There are, however, always things to watch and note as you wander through
the world. Yesterday, I saw a female Northern Parula make repeated trips
to a hanging clump of Spanish moss. In the southeast parulas nest in
Spanish moss. Further north they use Usnea lichens, also known as old man’s
beard. She wasn’t carrying nesting material, but was obviously
investigating possible nest sites. I’ll keep checking on her to see what
happens.
It’s Spring. Go outside. There’s always something going on.
