Bird Tricks for Bug Treats

An American Redstart flashes its wings; photo by Jeff Bryant (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Many birds hunt insect prey with passive patience, peeking into crevices, searching along leaf stems, or even waiting, statuesque, for unlucky flyers-by.

But others have a clever trick up their feathered sleeves––startling insects out of hiding.

Take the American Redstart, a warbler dressed in an elegant costume of black and orange (adult males) or gray and yellow (females and young males). Redstarts literally scare up a meal in the treetops by flashing splashes of color on their wings and tails.

Northern Mockingbirds too unfold their high-contrast wings to flush tasty insects, but their style is more zombie than ghost, stilted and jerky, and they do their slow-motion scare on the ground.

Have you seen birds frightening their meals? They’re so good at it...it’s spooky.