I spent a summer in the Arctic (Prudhoe Bay AK) and one of the coolest memories is the Long-tailed Jaegars hawking insects (chironomid midges), their long streamers fluttering in the breeze as they gracefully plucked the tiny midges out of the air.
Also on the ant thread – I just read an incredible book “Journey to the Ants” which is about ants and the famous duo Holldobler and Wilson (they won the Pulitzer Prize for their scientific tome “The Ants”; “Journey” is the layman’s book). It is amazing the little dramas that go on right under our feet. Communism, slavery, war, conquest, farming, ranching, caste systems, it is all right there in ants. Check it out.
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Michael Smith MS GISP
State GIS Manager, Maine Office of GIS
State of Maine, Office of Information Technology
michael.smith _at_ maine.gov 207-215-5530
Board Member, Maine GeoLibrary
Education Chair, Maine GIS Users Group
State Rep, National States Geographic Information Council
State House Station 145
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333-0145
69o 47' 58.9"W 44o 21' 54.8"N
From: maine-birds@googlegroups.com [mailto:maine-birds@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Raven Watcher
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 9:35 AM
To: Maine Birds
Subject: [Maine-birds] Re: Hawking Ants
Hello All,
I have observed the phenomenon of Gulls, Nighthawks and Starlings hawking flying ants for many decades in South Coastal Maine.
It is always around this time of year, usually in the late afternoon early evening of a sunny day and seems so nicely timed to coincide with nighthawk migration and also uptick of Bonaparte's Gulls in the area.
On the same day as many Maine birder posts there is also a post from the Northern New York birding group reporting the same phenomenon with I believe Eastern Kingbirds and Cedar Waxwings also checking in on this.
Watching the larger gulls expending energy hawking ants above the mudflats I can only conclude that they must be of a very high food value to make it worth their while though I have not noticed if they only do this on a high tide when the mudflats might not be so available for foraging.
I have seen the ants in the late afternoon rising by the hundreds from my yard.
This so much reminds me of the coinciding of Broad-winged Hawk migration with the spring and fall migration of garter snakes from and to their winter hibernation sites and basking areas on the ledges of the hills along which they migrate.
The natural world is amazing in the number of interactions and connections between all its various parts.
Dan Nickerson
Freeport ME
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