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[va-bird] Re: Yellow Billed Cuckoos
- From: Paula Sullivan <paula.sullivan2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: VA-Bird <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 16:03:37 -0400
Lynda,
Beautiful shot of your life Yellow-billed Cuckoo. You couldn't have
better avian friends than cuckoos if you have bagworms. Yellow-billed
Cuckoo's diet consists mostly of larger insects, many of which are
pests of our trees and ornamental plants. They like the hairy or
spiny caterpillars that lots of other birds can't handle, like
eastern tent caterpillar and larva of gypsy moths. They also eat fall
webworm, periodic and annual cicadas, katydids, grasshoppers,
crickets Colorado potato beetles, stink bugs, assassin bugs, sawfly
larva (scourge in my yard), fly larva, ants, and daddy longlegs. BT
is generally considered safe for birds and other animals, but it is
toxic to all caterpillars, including those of butterflies. I hope
your cuckoo hangs around and invites friends.
Paula Sullivan
Alexandria
On Jul 20, 2006, at 3:31 PM, Lynda Blair wrote:
.... I checked my books and it was indeed a Yellow Billed Cuckoo. I
truly hope I haven't mis-identified this :) I've never seen one
before...I think they were after the bagworms in the Cypress. The
trees are being destroyed by bagworm and we were preparing to spray
with BT this coming weekend.....
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