No real knowledge here, just "informed speculation" or "pretty educated guesses." Re the article in Bird Watchers Digest (which refers to chipmunks but might apply to other animals as well): According to the South Carolina Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History website (www.hiltonpond.org), "On average . . . stomach analyses reveal plant material makes up 90 to 95 percent of a chipmunk's diet, except in spring, when animal components may increase to 30 percent—possibly an attempt to replenish protein lost during winter torpor." Deborah Griffith Managing Editor Ohio Winter Bird Atlas Black Swamp Bird Observatory On Jun 5, 2009, at 3:06 PM, Witter, Jim wrote: > Hello everybody, > > > After reading these anecdotes and observing predation events in the > past, I was wondering if anyone had an idea as to why animals will > consume non-traditional/unusual prey items during late spring/early > summer. Birds are obviously not a common prey item for chipmunks, > deer, > grackles, etc, so why does it seem that they are more like to take > these > items at this time of the year? Is it because they might feed more > protein-rich items to their young, or maybe because they are simply > exploiting a food source that is more easily taken during this time of > the year? Let me know if you folks have some knowledge about this > subject. Thank you. > > > Jim Witter > Seasonal naturalist > Magee Marsh Wildlife Area > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/ > . > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]