Hi John Many birds eat what we consider to be 'pests'. The tit family time the arrival of their chicks to coincide with gluts of small caterpillars and also eat aphids and other small insects. Starlings poke around in lawns and eat leatherjackets (the larvae of crane flies). My perspective is still of European birds, but different species of the same family often fulfil the same roles on a different continent. There are flycatchers that specialise in catching flying insects by watching from a vantage point and then swooping out to catch what is passing. Wagtails chase and eat small insects too. I have seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drilling to get larvae out of the stems of Scotch Thistle (Onopordon acanthum) and the woodpeckers in general account for a vast number of beetle and other larvae. Starling, seagulls and other birds predate the swarms of flying ants when they appear. There must be many more examples....anyone......? Hilary Nightingale in SW France, where there are definite signs of spring ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Bryan" <johnbryan@worldnet.att.net> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, January 01, 1990 8:13 AM Subject: [pbs] birds eating pests. > Dear All: > > Have any members noticed any birds eating pests? I have seen sparrows > eating aphids, and know chickens will eat small slugs, and in England, > the thrushes, one of the best song birds, will smash snails against a > rock or stone to get at the flesh, do any North American birds do this? > Of course worms are eaten and grubs, but are there other birds that help > us? Cheers, John E. Bryan > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >