[TN-Bird] wintering birds and our predator imbalance
- From: Viclcsw@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:12:17 -0400 (EDT)
For the past ten winters the holly in front of my patio has been abundant
with berries and these berries have been visited by many different bird
species during the winter months, including eastern bluebirds, eastern
towhees, cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, yellow-bellied
sapsuckers,
red-bellied woodpeckers, and others.
The holly produced a huge crop of berries this year. HOWEVER, for the
past several weeks I have noticed squirrels climbing into the holly and both
eating the berries while perched there, and chewing off branches to carry
clumps of berries elsewhere to eat. As of today, the holly is completely
stripped of berries.
Disappointing and I doubt that this is an isolated event. I'm wondering
about the competition for food and the impact it may have on wintering birds.
Vickie Henderson
Knoxville, Tennessee
South Knox County
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