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Birds Are Nature's "Green" Pest Control

by Susan Nelson Hopkins

(Mind you, creepie-crawlie is not a scientific name. It's just what I call squishy things... like bugs, spiders, worms, and such.)

Did you know that nearly all birds eat insects? Even seed-eaters and nectar-sippers eat insects, usually during the nesting season. But they will also resort to insects if their normal food sources are scarce.

Insect-Eating Birds...

Many people consider Grackles and Starlings to be nuisance birds, but they consume enormous quantities of insects... ants, grubs, wasps, and spiders. Excellent pest control - certainly not beautiful birds, but absolutely FREE pest control.

Swallows are another huge insect consumer. Definitely beautiful, and acrobatic, and also... free.

Just by looking at some birds, you would never guess how effective they are as bug eaters. Bluebirds often perch nonchalantly and wait for bugs to come to them, and then snap them up. Flycatchers do the same. Pretty efficient pest control, and again... free.

Nuthatches and Brown Creepers search for bugs on tree trunks. They're fun to watch as they scurry up and down, and around and around the trunk. Very few bugs escape them. Efficient, funny, and... free.

Even nectar-sipping hummingbirds consume large quantities of spiders. They also weave spider webs into tiny nests the size of half-walnuts. By far, the most phenomenal pest control of all, and... free. (I'd pay good money to watch them... if I could just find them.)

The months when wild birds are raising their young are when insects are most prolific. So nestlings and fledglings are assured of good creepie-crawlie protein munchies. Their exhausted parents also have a ready source of energy.
 

When all is said and done, birds are efficient and extremely effective pest control agents. Not only are they magnificent little creatures, they're also environmentally friendly, and absolutely cost effective... they don't charge you a penny... it's FREE!

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