Re: [cobirds] Northern Parula

Thanks Dave! I was hoping you'd chime in!

I added another photo to the series with a closer look of the weevil larvae in the beak of the Parula. 

Today I had a similar feeding frenzy, this time it was American Goldfinches going at it in the Cottonwood. It was strange in that there were probably 30 of them with no other bird species in sight and all in just one tree. Do you think they were feeding on the same weevil larvae?

Take a look at: http://www.robraker.com/Robs-Natural-World/Front-Range-Foothills/Rock-Creek-Trail-Superior-CO/

Rob Raker

Lakewood, CO

On Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 8:14:29 AM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

Robert et al,
More wonderful photos from you. 

I believe the insects attracting warblers to those cottonwood catkins are weevil larvae in the genus Dorytomus.  They are small, look somewhat like a small grain of cooked white rice when extracted at this time of year.  The adult weevils the larvae turn into (if allowed by warblers) are gray.  You could probably find images on-line if you googled the genus.   I write a column in the journal "Colorado Birds" called "The Hungry Bird".  These weevils were discussed in the April 2011 issue (Vol 45(2)), and I believe you could peruse it by going to the Colorado Field Ornithologists website and negotiating the various prompts that lead to "publication", "The Hungry Bird" archives, etc.

Very nice finds of the Vermilion Flycatcher and this parula.  There is a parula at the Lamar Community College woods in a flowering cottonwood just south of the library as of day before yesterday doing the same thing for the past several days.  Amazing that migrant birds can actually fatten up on such tiny, hard to find morsels.

Keep showing us what's out there.

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins

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Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2016 22:25:40 -0700
From: rob....@gmail.com
To: cob...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [cobirds] Northern Parula

In the Wheatridge Greenbelt just west of Prospect Lake last evening amongst the many Yellow-rumped Warblers was a Northern Parula. It was feeding voraciously on small insects it appreared to be pulling from the catkins. I posted photographs on my website at: http://www.robraker.com/Robs-Natural-World/Front-Range-Foothills/Wheatridge-Greenbelt/i-MBtBbnj

Rob Raker 

Lakewood, CO

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