Eastern Kingbird Nest – Bird Nest Entomology – A Thousand Acres of Silphiums

It’s funny when I think of some of the interactions I’ve had with friends who are specialists. I remember multiple times when bringing up insects in the field with birders, that I would hear some form of the reply “they’re just food for the birds.” Alternatively, when on an insect outing, you’re lucky to have an entomologist lift their head from the ground to see or listen to an interesting or rare bird. And the botanists? Well, let’s just say they typically have a very specialized set of interests.

One of the things I love about spending lots of time watching and photographing bird’s nests is that, at least with good enough optics, you can often be fortunate to identify the food that the parents bring to feed their young. This sure beats killing a bird or causing them to regurgitate in order to identify their prey.

Being a tyrant flycatcher after all, these kingbirds do not typically bring in the caterpillars that are so often the main prey that passerines feed upon. Instead, the kingbirds prefer taking their prey on the wing, which means any arthropods that can fly. Here are a few images where I can get a good idea of the identification on the insect prey.