Tag Archives: Wood Pigeon
‘Good’ berry eaters, ‘bad’ ones, and what berry plants do about it
From the viewpoint of a plant that produces berries the birds that eat its berries can be grouped into two – the ‘good’ ones and the ‘bad’ ones. The basis for this grouping lies in the reasons why plants commit all the effort into producing berries – to get their seeds dispersed to new growing sites. This is supposed to work through a bird eating the berries, digesting the ‘pulp’ part, and then either regurgitating or defecating the seed(s) back out. Birds that do this are called ‘Seed dispersers’ and are therefore ‘good’. The various thrushes are in this group. Continue reading
Birds that eat berries
We all associate the various thrushes (Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush Fieldfare and Redwing) with eating berries. But are these the only ones? A few years ago Barbara and David Snow undertook some detailed fieldwork in the Oxfordshire area to find out. Continue reading