12 Might 2024
Japanese cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) depend on the wind for each pollination and seed dispersal. Within the spring the female and male timber every produce an inflorescence.
The males produce catkins which drop off the tree when the pollen is gone. The females produce flowers whose seeds are embedded in fluff to hold them away on the wind.
By the point the cottonwoods have gone to seed warbling vireos (Vireo gilvus) have returned to the timber on the shore of Lake Erie. Although the birds look nondescript their music is the sound that fills the air within the car parking zone at Magee Marsh in Might.
Yesterday at Presque Isle State Park we watched a warbling vireo constructing a nest in a cottonwood. The nest is a cup that hangs from the fork of two small branches. Each sexes assist construct it.
In s. Ontario [the region of Lake Erie], nest exteriors long-established with insect and spider silk and cocoons, paper and string, and bits of birch bark; exterior partitions composed of grasses, plant fibers, bark strips, plant down, hair, leaves, high-quality twigs, lichens, and rootlets. Linings had been high-quality grasses, pine needles, plant fibers, rootlets, feathers, and leaves.
Warbling vireos put the fluff to good use.
p.s. Right here’s a mnemonic that will help you bear in mind their music:
The mnemonic of “If I see you, I’ll seize you, and I’ll squeeze you until you squirt!” may be very helpful in figuring out and remembering this hen’s music.
Whereas simply heard, the Warbling Vireo may be troublesome to identify. They have a tendency to perch themselves excessive in treetops. When they’re seen, this widespread hen is commonly described as “nondescript”.
