Birds and Bugs
Are birds bothered by bugs like I am by mosquitos and deer flies? I ask this question because I recently photographed a soaking-wet sandhill crane and wondered why it was wet. It hadn’t rained that day.
When I later processed the photo, I saw that flying insects surrounded the crane. My first thought was that the bird had dunked itself for relief from the bugs.
I did some research. One seemingly-authoritative website stated that sandhills daub mud on their feathers in the breeding season for camouflage. I think that seems a bit farfetched. Another site said that “sandhill cranes preen themselves by rubbing mud on their feathers . . . .” A bit more plausible?
I’m going to stick with my theory that the birds are seeking relief from the bugs. I posted the crane photograph below, a photograph of a canada goose with a bug, and a shot of a wood-duck family. The small dots in the photo of the wood-duck family are flying insects.
