Hi all,
But my question would be, How do the cuckoos know that there is an
unusually abundant food supply waiting for them? I can see why, for
example, good supplies of prey or of berries/mast/grains would delay
the departure of northern migrants for the south, but how would an
abundant food supply attract birds? sounds like the wooly bear
caterpillar problem to me. Of course, I'm probably missing something...
Best wishes,
Steve Cagan
Cleveland heights, Cuyahoga County
On Apr 15, 2010, at 2:43 PM, rob thorn wrote:
> While I haven't been lucky enough to find an early cuckoo, I can
> pass along the info that it is shaping up to be an accelerated
> Spring for lepidoptera (which are a main cuckoo food item). Most
> butterfly observers have reported early high numbers of early
> species (Spring Azures, Cabbage Whites, anglewings, some moths). I
> personally have already seen 8 species of butterfly, far ahead of
> the past 10 year average. If this early 'bloom' is also reflected
> in caterpillars, it would not be surprising for cuckoos to show up
> early. I've already seen several well-developed tent caterpillar
> tents, which is anecdotal evidence that caterpillar numbers are
> indeed up early. Cuckoos are notorious 'food nomads' that often
> track caterpillar outbreaks, so we might want to keep our eyes
> peeled over the next week for these furtive birds.
>
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Steve Cagan, photographer
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216-932-2753 (USA)
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