Bugged by bugs?

Birds love to eat Japanese beetles

In August, we see more insects in the yard. Some are beneficial to the garden; some aren't. Most backyard birds eat insects, which are high in protein in easy to feed nestlings. But who eats what?

Cardinal: beetles, crickets, katydids, leaf hoppers, cicadas, flies, centipedes, spiders, butterflies, moths.

Chickadee: insects and spiders.

Tufted Titmouse: caterpillars, beetles, ants, wasps, stinkbugs, tree hoppers, spiders and snails.

Mockingbird: beetles, earthworms, moths, butterflies, ants, bees, wasps and grasshoppers.

Catbird: Japanese beetles, midges, grasshoppers, caterpillars and moths.

Common Grackle: beetles, spiders, grasshoppers and caterpillars.

Starling: grasshoppers, beetles, flies, caterpillars, millipedes, spiders, and the adult and grub of Japanese beetles.

Downy Woodpecker: beetle larvae that live in tree bark or wood, ants, caterpillars, bark beetles and apple borers.

Carolina Wren: caterpillars, moths, stinkbugs, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers and cockroaches.

House Wren: beetles, caterpillars, earwigs, daddy longlegs and flies.

Northern Flicker: ants, beetles (gathered from the ground or "cow patties"), flies, butterflies, moths and snails.

White-breasted Nuthatch: weevil larvae; wood-boring beetle larvae, click beetles, tree hoppers, scale insects, ants, gall fly larvae, tent caterpillars, gypsy moths, stinkbugs and spiders.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird: mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies and spiders. (Ruby-throats catch insects in mid-air or they pluck them from spider webs.)

So you see, songbirds are another natural benefit when you entice birds into your backyard.