Yellow Warblers Courting
Crouching, quivering her wings and issuing forth soft vocalizations, a female Yellow Warbler (in foreground) beckons to her mate, communicating her receptivity to procreation. He proceeds to woo her with a recently-caught Mayfly (insert) which she readily swallows before consummating their relationship. This courtship behavior by the female is practiced by many female songbirds.
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Waxwings Supplementing Sugary Fruit Diet With High-Protein Insects
The diet of both Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings is primarily sugary fruits throughout most of year. Research shows that they can subsist on this diet exclusively for as many as 18 days. However, in winter when feeding on fruits, they also feed on buds and available insects. In warmer months, waxwings will fly out over water from exposed perches, much like flycatchers, and snatch emerging aquatic insects such as mosquitoes, midges, mayflies, caddisflies and dragonflies out of the air. They also glean for vegetation-borne insect prey, such as scale insects. At this time of year they are taking advantage of winter stonefly hatches over open streams. (photos: bohemian waxwing & stonefly)
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