Thursday, October 5, 2023

Mantises at the feeder

 The praying mantis hanging around the hummingbird feeder was a native, Stagmomantis Carolina. So I’m told by people who can tell the natives from Tendoera sinensis, a species from China.

Mantises prey on small birds. In this part of the world, most of the reported victims are Ruby-throated hummingbirds.

In two days, I evicted two mantises from the feeder. Neither went without a tussle.

The world is full of things that can drag you into police actions. I never dreamed that hanging a hummingbird feeder was one of them.

• Source: Martin Nyffeler, Michael R. Maxwell, J.V. Remsen, “Bird Predation By Praying Mantises: A Global Perspective,” The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 129(2), 331-334 (2017).

https://bioone.org/journals/the-wilson-journal-of-ornithology/volume-129/issue-2/16-100.1/Bird-Predation-By-Praying-Mantises-A-Global-Perspective/10.1676/16-100.1.full#:~:text=DISCUSSION-,Mantid%20and%20Bird%20Species%20Involved,6%20cm%20in%20body%20length.

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