Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 16:24:42 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Phil Davis Subject: Re: Hermit Thrush diet In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Bob - Over the past four or five years, we have usually had a Hermit Thrush wintering in our backyard (including this year). It spends much time drinking from and sitting on our deck bird bath and feeding on the deck and in the backyard. We regularly watch it eat sunflower chips (hulled sunflower) that fall from the feeder and also the millet that we put on the deck, the deck railing, or on the ground. It also eats suet that we put on the deck railing or forages on the ground at the base of our tree where crumbs of suet fall from the "woodpecker" feeders. We also have safflower, thistle, and black oil sunflower out but we have never noticed it eating those seeds. Phil At 04:10 PM 01/26/2000 -0500, Bob Mumford wrote: >This afternoon I watched a Hermit Thrush pick up and eat black oil sunflower >seeds 15 feet from one of my windows. > >Has anyone else seen this unusual behavior? Can thrushes digest and take >nourishment from hard covered seeds like this? None of my references suggest >that hermits take anything other than soft fruit. ======================================================= Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com ======================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ================================================================================================================================================