Date:         Tue, 8 Jan 2002 15:54:44 -0500
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         "Paula M. Sullivan" <paulas@EROLS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bittersweet Eaters
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Marcia Nelson wrote:

> Can someone tell  me what birds eat bittersweet berries ?  A neighbor is
> overwhelmed by growth of the vine high up into her trees, and wonders what
> creatures would be deprived if they were cut down.  I think I have seen Jays
> eating them and I know crows sometimes do, but have seen no others.

I watched a Mockingbird eat them just yesterday at a location outside of
Maryland. (I'll bet they eat them in Maryland too, Norm.) I worry, as your
neighbor does, about removing such a food source when the bittersweet vines
have already displaced native plant foods. But the birds that eat the
bittersweet berries disperse the seeds and so this invasive vine continues to
spread and threaten trees and, thereby, birds.  It's a terrible problem and I
wish I knew the answer.

Paula Sullivan
Alexandria, VA
paulas@erols.com

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