next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects David & Alison Webster wrote: > Hi Elanor & All, Feb 25, 2008 > Several ideas come to mind that might narrow the field-- > > Your birds may have encountered distasteful sunflower seed, at your > feeder or elsewhere, and now tend to avoid all sunflower seed. If so > then they would be expected to not eat good sunflower seed. > > If you 'borrowed' some from someone who is having their sunflower > seed eaten then you could test the above. And if your birds eat these > known good seed then you are not dealing with learned behavior and > there must be something unsatisfactory about your current seed. > > If your seed are distasteful then it could be something in the > shell or something in the kernel. Shelling some and feeding only > kernels would test the former. If the shells are musty or are > contaminated with some volatile material then warming a shallow layer > in an over at 150oF for an hour might restore their appeal. > > And although very unlikely, you might be dealing with the > Flintstone version of a GMO. There is a curious form of symbiosis > involving fungi and vascular plants. The mycelia grow throughout the > plant in the intercellular spaces. The plant outwardly, other than > being unusually vigorous, appears normal. Reproduction of the fungus > is often via contaminated seed of the vascular plant. The fungus is > entirely dependent on the vascular plant for nourishment and, at least > in those cases that have come to light, protects the plant from > grazing by, nematodes, vertebrates and insects; the plant tissue > being either distasteful or toxic. > > A textbook case of this involves Kentucky-31 tall fescue (Festuca > arundinacea and the fungus Acremonium coenophialum) as described in > Nat. Hist. Sept, 1989. Cattle and horses avoid it, if given a choice, > and if not may become very ill. And apparently hundreds of grass > species have similar associations. Juncos preferred uninfected seeds > and flour beetles died when fed ground infected seeds of tall fescue. > > Darnel, an annual ryegrass, is apparently well known in Europe (and > to Shakespere) because its seeds can contain an endophyte (as > demonstrated about 1889 !) that causes illness and blindness. > > Yours truly, Dave Webster, Kentville > Eleanor Lindsay wrote: > >> I've appreciated all the discussion on this topic including the very >> valuable side information on Indian meal moths, found in a batch of >> seeds last year and which, most thankfully I now appreciate, I >> immediately threw out! >> I've opened some sunflower seeds and verified that there are kernels >> inside. I will also buy some kernels and give them a try. I even >> bought a new feeder in case there is a problem with my existing ones >> that is not evident, despite a thorough cleaning - but still no >> consumption. >> Thanks also Lucas for the synopsis of Chapter 8; we're clearly not >> into anything that drastic - but it still a somewhat troubling >> mystery why such a basic staple as sunflower seeds, which I normally >> go through many 20kg bags of every winter are not being touched. >> >> Eleanor Lindsay >> > > > > David, I must say I have been increasingly reduced to wondering about some sort of aversion reaction; I've nothing to lose at this stage by trying your 'borrowing' suggestion, but the question then is how much time is it reasonable to wait before judging the result............ At present it is so frustrating - my feeding area is teeming daily with so many birds (20+ mourning doves, 30-50 redpolls, a dozen bluejays to mention just the larger numbers); they cluster all around, on all the perches and all over the ground but they just don't eat much other than the peanuts. I've never had such an experience before. I'll report on the borrowing trial in due course! Eleanor Lindsay
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects