Ixoreus naevius
(Varied Thrush)
© Rosemary Taylor (Photo ID #13253)
Photographer's Submitted Details
Photo Location
Vancouver garden
Photographer
Rosemary Taylor
Habitat
Photo Date
March 10, 2011
Upload Date
March 20, 2011
Elevation (m)
Latitude
Longitude
Photo ID #
13253
Comments
Every winter we normally have one male varied thrush in our garden, which stays for 2-3 months. This year, a female also appeared, and she was unusual in that she picked up dropped sunflower seeds from our bird feeders, then ran to a corner of a square of concrete by our garage. She held the sunflower seed in her beak and proceeded to break it open by using her beak as a jackhammer against the concrete. She always chose the same spot on the concrete for an anvil. I have never seen a varied thrush act this way, banging a seed on an anvil to get at the kernel inside. It is reminiscent of song thrushes in England, which are well known for whacking snail shells on something hard to break them, in order to get at the snail inside. Another interesting point is that the male varied thrush which is normally in our garden at this time of year was absent for a while, but when he returned, I saw him banging seeds as the female had done. He had never done this before - was he around to watch and l