Hello bird people, Per Dave Leatherman’s prompt, I want to share a bird food observation from this morning. I noted a pair of Cassin’s Sparrows, a few House Finches, and a single House Sparrow foraging in the bare ground of my yard. I watched with binoculars to see them snipping off and consuming the first true leaves and cotyledons of some common weeds that have emerged in the past week, lambsquarters and prostrate knotweed. As a bander of sparrows in Feb and March in northern Mexico, I often captured birds with green residue on their beaks that I assume came from eating the abundant and succulent Russian Thistle (tumbleweed) seedlings. If you are a gardener you’ve probably lost seedling peas to House Sparrows or discovered bird beak shaped triangles missing from young leaves. These “microgreens” are a fine source of carbohydrates, minerals, and possibly water. Dave or others, have you made similar observations or is there literature documenting seedlings as a food source for birds? I am certain that birds were on top of the microgreen fad long before humans jumped on this health food bandwagon. Also, I do appreciate the birdy help with weeding although I doubt they will make a dent in this yard! Erin Strasser Laporte, Colorado P.S. Evening Grosbeaks are still consistently in my neighborhood. On Apr 17, 2023, at 8:13 AM, DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleather...@msn.com> wrote: -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/2A66CFD5-08B1-4DD7-8E3B-50E8E550EBB2%40gmail.com. |