[obol] Cascara tree - Empid

[Daniel Farrar]

Obol,
 Looks like PacSlope Flycatchers probably DO eat the berries on occasion.

Here is the account from Birds of NA online:
"
DIET
 Major food items

Mostly insects.
 Quantitative analysis

Little information. Analysis of stomach contents of 157 specimens (including
9 nestlings) taken between Mar and Oct, most from California (and thus can
be attributed to Pacific-slope Flycatcher) but a few from other w. U.S.
states (and most likely representing Cordilleran Flycatcher) show the
following (Beal
1912<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA/account/Pacific-slope_Flycatcher/FOOD_HABITS.html#Pacific-slope_Flycatcher_FOOD_HABITS_DIET_Quantitative_analysis>):
>99% animal matter, consisting of beetles (Coleoptera; 8.4% of total;
Coc-cinellidae in 24 stomachs; also other beetles), wasps and bees
(Hymenoptera; 38.8% of total in 121 stom-achs), true bugs (Hemiptera;
8.4%of total in 53 stom-achs), flies (Diptera;
31.2% of total in 67 stomachs), moths and caterpillars (Lepidoptera; 6.6% of
total in 39), and also other insects and spiders (Arachnida); vegetable
matter found in 19 stomachs and included blackberry (*Rubus* sp.),
elderberry (*Sambucus* sp.), and tarweed (*Madia* sp.). Stomach contents
from 3 broods of (probable) Pacific-slope Flycatcher: Brood of 4 young about
2 d old included 0.2% beetles, 16.2% flies, 39% leafhoppers (Homoptera:
Cicadel-lidae), 1.8% raphidians (Raphidioptera), 6.8% cater-pillars, and 36%
spiders; brood of 3 young >2 d old included 5.7% beetles, 50.3% flies,
24.7%wasps,
13.7% caterpillars, and 5.7% spiders; and 2 nest-lings about 10 d old almost
entirely wasps and bees (92.5%; Beal
1912<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA/account/Pacific-slope_Flycatcher/FOOD_HABITS.html#Pacific-slope_Flycatcher_FOOD_HABITS_DIET_Quantitative_analysis>).
Examination of 23 stom-achs of Cordilleran Flycatchers from s. Colorado gave
count of 96 arthropods comprising 30 flies, 24 beetles, 21 Lepidoptera, 16
wasps and bees, and 3 other groups (Beaver and Baldwin
1975<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA/account/Pacific-slope_Flycatcher/FOOD_HABITS.html#Pacific-slope_Flycatcher_FOOD_HABITS_DIET_Quantitative_analysis>
).

On 8/4/07, Romain Cooper <romain at frontiernet.net> wrote:
>
> A bushy cascara tree (Rhamnus purshiana) near our yard is full of
> berries and birds.  Earlier, when in flower, lots of honeybees and
> native pollinators were swarming over this particular tree.  Now
> mostly Spotted Towhee, Black-Headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, Am.
> Robin and Purple Finch are feeding on the berries.  Today a
> hatch-year Townsend's Solitaire was perched near the tree and a
> Band-Tailed Pigeon flew over (didn't see either of them eating berries).
>
> An Empid flycatcher (probably Pacific Slope?  They are common in the
> area. The bird had a distinct eye-ring.) was perched in the
> cascara.  When I checked out the object in its beak, I was surprised
> to see that it was a cascara berry (and not an insect).  It was
> moving its head vigorously with berry in beak (perhaps trying to
> dislodge the pit?).  I never saw the bird ingest the berry.  Shortly
> thereafter, it assumed a fly-catcher pose and pumped its tail a few times.
>
> I never thought of any flycatcher (Tyrannidae) as eating
> berries?  This one appeared to be in the process.
>
> Siskiyou Biological Services LLC
> Romain Cooper
> 10398 Takilma Road
> Cave Junction, OR 97523
> home office 541-592-2311
> cell 541-415-1490
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-- 
Daniel Farrar
Eugene, Oregon
jdanielfarrar at gmail.com
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