This is the best photo I could get though my kitchen window of a completely different bird than usual. I don't have a clue what type of bird this is. It is a beautiful orange/yellow with black beak and neck. His wings and tail are black with a small white stripe. I went outside later to wait for the bird to come back and get a better photo when I spotted...
This cute little guy on my tomato plant. I picked him off, took a few pictures, then threw him over the fence. After a while I started feeling guilty about tossing him out. I imagined his little tail wagging--he was so happy here--sucking my tomato plant dry. So later in the evening, I found the flashlight, walked down to the lake and waited for the sprinklers to turn off. Then, I spotted him, all stretched out in the grass--ice cold! I brought him home and put him back on the tomato plant. I know that's a little wacky, but, maybe a bird will get him or he will leave after the plant is dried up. After seeing the picture of him I just couldn't do him in. Anyway, the tomato flowers won't set in this heat, so it's not as if I'm ruining a producing plant.
Two firsts in my garden were squirrels and rabbits, and now, the colorful bird and a tomato worm! I wonder what's next?
5 comments:
That is a tomato horn worm... they turn into the night flying sphinx moth or hawk moth that some people refer to as hummingbird moths. Very closely related to the moth featured in the movie Silence of the Lambs. There's no danger of them being eaten by a bird, they absorb toxins from the tomato leaves and are quite poisonous to birds and such. They also feed on Datura (or loco weed) Can't help with the bird just now...
I think the bird is a male Hooded Oriole. Do a web search, and see if he matches that...
Oh what a neat story...you are so big hearted! He sure is a cute little worm! I'm actually glad he is OK! The bird is so beautiful!!!
Do you belong to PETI? You should join forces with that guy who's been protesting over the President's fly swatting! Me? I would rather be eating tomatoes than rescuing worms.
I believe Claude is right on the id of the bird. I've never seen one here before. I checked a range map and it shows they summer here during breeding season. It's probably because we had a mild June. They are seen in Tucson often in the summer.
Aiyana
Claude- Thanks for your help again!!
Aiyana-I started thinkng about the bug turning into a butterfly and just could'nt let it die!!! He ate the top of the plant and the next day he was gone.
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