When I went to see the Snow Bunting at Chatfield State Park, the bird was feeding on the alien weed, " Polygonum aviculare". The common name is
'Devil's Shoestrings'. The weedy plant is reddish brown in color with stems lying flat on the ground. The Bunting when I was there, was feeding on the plant's dark brown tiny seeds, and on the plant's buds. Photographs on CoBirds showed the bird to be feeding on the same plant.
In William Weber's Colorado Flora, eastern slope, he writes, P. aviculare, [pertaining to birds, which eat the seeds and young leaves] . I have seen Juncos, White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrow, and Cassin's and House Finch feed on this weed in the fall and in the winter. This plant is extremely common in all of Chatfield State Park, and it is common in disturbed areas along roadsides and is found all the way north into Alaska. Polygonum is in the Buckwheat Family. This family has different genus which birds love to feed on, such as Bistorta[ Bistort] and Eriogonum [Wild-Buckwheat]
I looked at the Alaska Natural Heritage information on their plant surveys. One shows Polygonum aviculare growing in the arctic and alpine areas of Alaska, with indication of this plant found NEAR Barrow, Alaska. When I was in Barrow years ago I was there too early for Devil's Shoestrings to be out. Lot's of Snow buntings nest in the Barrow area, in abandoned car tires, and on the edge of the noisey airport. The nesting Snow buntings there were not timid at all and they were very used to loud noises, but Snow Buntings I have seen on the New England beaches, were fairly skittish.
If the Snow Bunting decided to stay[which I do not think is the case], there is Polygonum aviculare across from the airplane field[in Chatfield]in the camp grounds, and it is on the edge of the parking lots, throughout the park.
Happy Birding!
Tina Jones
Littleton, Jefferson County, CO
No comments:
Post a Comment