FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Tennessee Humming-warbler

["Dev Joslin" <devjoslin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yesterday I watched a Tennessee Warbler meticulously going from flower to 
flower in a tree by our house here in Costa Rica (locals call it a guititi 
tree).  The bird was clearly getting nectar from the flowers and almost 
humorously (to me), it was doing it alongside a hummingbird.

I had never seen or known that Tennessee Warblers got nectar from flowers.  
(Has anyone ever seen one at a hummingbird feeder?).  I have never observed 
it during spring or fall migration.

However, Alexander Skutch and Gary Stiles (in a Guide to the Birds of Costa 
Rica) describe the Tenn. Warbler as one who ?visits flowers of many sorts 
for nectar (sometimes individuals defend flowers for short periods).?  Out 
of 52 other warblers described in Skutch and Stiles, 5 are noted to feed on 
nectar (Orange-crowned, Nashville, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, 
Bay-breasted).

Has anyone else observed this behavior in any of these warbler species or am 
I just out of it?  Does anyone know if this behavior is primarily limited to 
wintering in the tropics?  Don?t know why it should be, but I haven?t 
observed any of these species on their breeding grounds.

Dev Joslin
Monteverde, Costa Rica

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