Hawking June Beetles

Today I was out watching the yard flock as I cleaned car. Both my kids were out with birds sharing a nectarine which was passed back and forth between all even after it fell on the ground a few times. That was nasty but all where happy. Just before dark the harem master and a hen went to roost on the motorcycle parked in driveway. A little later I noticed eleven juveniles (11 weeks post-hatch), two nearly grown ducks and two dogs scattered about yard and making short little runs back and forth as they grabbed something. Upon closer inspection I could see all where catching adult June beetles flying just about the ground. You could not go 10 feet in any direction without seeing one. Birds were able to fill their crops easily on those treats. Birds were even after beetles after light levels appeared to dark for chickkens to see. Ducks had a slightly different technique where they seemed to drift about yard. The lightening beetles were not touched even though they were more abundant than the June beetles.

They all went to bed with happy tummys! My hens won't touch June bugs. They musn't know what they are missing.

Hamstery said:

They all went to bed with happy tummys!   My hens won't touch June bugs.  They musn't know what they are missing.

Click to expand...

Not all species taste good. The pale brown ones we have seem to be highly preferred, the darker ones seem to less pleasant to consume and the exoskeleton hardness may figure into that difference.

One of my hens ate a green Japanese bettle

ADavid said:

One of my hens ate a green Japanese bettle

Click to expand...

Japanese beetles appear to be highly palatable to chickens. I was just talking to co-workers in research plots where they had pheromone traps out. Traps can catch 5 gallons of beetles easily. Problem is traps can bring beetles into very same areas they are intended to protect.

centrarchid said:

Japanese beetles appear to be highly palatable to chickens. I was just talking to co-workers in research plots where they had pheromone traps out. Traps can catch 5 gallons of beetles easily. Problem is traps can bring beetles into very same areas they are intended to protect.

Click to expand...

I think you're supposed to put the traps away from areas you want to protect....because they have to attract them or they wouldn't catch many.

Traps are placed away from areas to be protected. Problem is variations in wind direction. If traps are anywhere near crops, then there will be times when pheromone plume brings incoming beetles across crop. Fixing may require moving to traps to compensate for wind direction. We suspect beetles are coming from miles away.

Two of the juvenile stags came off roost to hawk more beetles at about the same time the lightening beetles started flying. I think the lightening beetles provided the cue. They were joined by the ducks. A pair of eastern kingbirds were doing similar directly overhead except prey were smaller. The kingbirds hawked in three diminsions while the chickens and ducks where restricted to two. The chase for a given beetle could last 30 seconds and chickens had to run much of the time. Both chickens and ducks where catching beetles in the air. I think the ducks even eat the lightening beetles on occasion. It is almost 2100 and birds are still hawking.

One of the stags chased a beetle down right at my feet. I could here his bill clack almost like with the kingbirds although the sound was of lower volume and duller. It is 2105 and they are still hawking. Cockerel to my right found a concentration of beetles walking on the ground. I do not see how they can see the beetles but they are still able to pull them down from air and detect them from at least six feet away. Sound could be important.

Something to note is the juveniles most inclined to be hawking at dusk are males. Individuals doing so are going to roost with a big nutritional boost. Is this boost in addition to usual daily intake or does it compensate for low intake. In reality, if such behavior were to take place in nature the individuals hawking so late would be at increased risk of depredation. Still this may be related to past observations with birds walking about at midnight under full moon.