Katie's Sightings

A Cherry Festival!

Western Tanager (female) - Piranga ludoviciana

Our neighborhood is full of non-native fruit trees. This year they all bloomed while the weather was warm! Last year it snowed and stayed cold while they were in bloom, so no insects could pollinate them and we had an overall crop failure! I'm so glad that this year it's looking good for the availability of fruits, berries, and seeds. Right now the Cherries are RIPE!

American Robin (adult) - Turdus migratorious

A "Cherry Festival" has been going on in our neighborhood for the past two weeks! A whole variety of birds have been eating the local cherries and they're just about all gone! Tanagers, Grosbeaks, Robins, Orioles, Steller's Jays, Towhees, Pigeons, Cedar Waxwings, and Doves join in the feast! Their constant chattering and movement is fascinating to watch and hear! It's a beautiful sight to see, and enchants me for hours!

Some birds swallow the cherries whole, some peck bites from them, others pick the whole cherry, roll it around in their beaks, and then spit out the pit! Towards the end of the "Festival" the birds all feed on one particular tree one day, and then move on to another tree the next day!

For the first time ever, I saw a Hairy Woodpecker eating cherries this week! I didn't know that they ate cherries! I looked it up and they do indeed eat "fruit" but it is a minimal part of their diet. I'll bet cherries are quite a change from their usual insect fare!

Once the cherries are ripe, the bird population seems to increase 10 fold! Band-tailed Pigeons can de-cherry a tree in a day! It's been quite a commotion in the trees, with birds flying back and forth looking for the last cherry in the neighborhood!

There are a few different kinds of cherry trees growing here. Queen Anne Cherry Trees produce medium/small cherries that are rosy/blond in color. Another kind produces lots of small dark cherries that are mostly pit, but I don't know its name. The birds enjoy them all!

Steller's Jay (adult) with Cherry pits - Cyanocitta stelleri

Interestingly, Steller's Jays also gather the discarded cherry pits! I watched a Jay bury several pits, one at a time, in different locations this week. I don't know why they do this! Do they soften up underground and are eaten later? I have to do some research on this and get back to you!

Your questions and comments are appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!