Category: Grapes

Winter Arrival of the Hermit Thrush

Seems every day I’m seeing another of my winter birds. This one, my treasured Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). A medium sized bird with a magical, flutelike song which it doesn’t bring along on its winter visit. It saves those lovely notes for summer, choosing to blend in and not make too much of a noticeable presence while in the black and white landscape of winter.

Out of necessity it also changes its diet, going from being an active hunter of yummy crawly things such as beetles, ants, caterpillars, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and earthworms to what winter offers up to birds of winter, berries.

You can see in these pictures that the Hermit Thrush enjoys Smooth Sumac berries to dine on. Other berries they enjoy include Elderberries, Pokeberries, Serviceberries, Grapes, and Mistletoe berries. These are plants that I have in my yard or would certainly consider adding, just to invite more winter birds to come visit for the winter.

Yellow-rumped Warblers

An occasional visitor to my bird bath, in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). Fondly called Butterbutts by birders. If you don’t have a bird bath, I sure recommend one equipped with a water warmer to keep the water from freezing during the coldest that winter can throw at you.

These warblers don’t partake of the beautiful bird buffet that I put out for them but I’ve read that they do enjoy suet, sunflower seeds, peanut butter and raisins at back yard feeders. AND down at my Mom’s feeder in Citrus County, Florida, they enjoy her suet. Maybe I should ask my sister for her recipe. They don’t seem interested in MY recipe.

When they’re not at a feeder during the winter they will feed on the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper, and dogwood. Butterbutts also eat the seeds of grasses and goldenrod.

During the summer while they’re up north they eat spiders, and many insects like beetles, caterpillars, gnats, wasps, aphids, and grasshoppers.

Best of luck at getting to see Yellow-rumped Warblers and don’t forget, if I didn’t have a bird bath equipped with a water warmer I doubt I’d get to see these sweet little birds.