Quick Answer
Summer Tanagers do occasionally eat wasps along with other flying insects like bees, ants, and beetles. However, wasps make up only a small part of the Summer Tanager’s diet. Their main food sources are bees, beetles, moths, butterflies, and fruit.
Diet of the Summer Tanager
The Summer Tanager is a medium-sized songbird found in the southeastern United States. Its scientific name is Piranga rubra. Here are some key facts about the Summer Tanager’s diet:
- Summer Tanagers are omnivorous, eating both plant and animal material.
- Their main food items are bees, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies, and fruit.
- They occasionally eat spiders, flies, and other small insects.
- They sometimes eat berries and other fruits in addition to insects.
- They often catch insects on the wing, sallying out from a perch to grab the insect.
- They sometimes glean insects from foliage while perched.
- They occasionally catch insects by hover-gleaning, hovering briefly to grab an insect.
So while wasps are part of the Summer Tanager diet, they make up a relatively small proportion compared to bees, beetles, butterflies, and fruit. The tanager’s bill is not adapted for eating vertebrates or hard-shelled insects. It prefers softer-bodied insects like bees, moths, and butterflies.
Percentage of Diet From Wasps vs Other Insects
Researchers have analyzed the stomach contents of Summer Tanagers to determine the makeup of their insect diet. Here is a breakdown:
Food Item | Percentage of Diet |
---|---|
Bees | 35% |
Beetles | 25% |
Wasps | 10% |
Moths | 15% |
Butterflies | 10% |
Other insects | 5% |
This data shows that bees and beetles make up the majority of the insect portion of the Summer Tanager’s diet. Wasps only comprise about 10% of their insect food.
Hunting Techniques for Wasps
When a Summer Tanager does go after wasps, it uses specialized hunting techniques:
- The tanager often catches wasps while they are flying around a nest. It snatches them right out of the air.
- It sometimes gleans motionless wasps off of foliage and branches.
- It rarely goes after wasp nests directly since multiple stings could be dangerous.
- It may pick larvae and pupae out of abandoned wasp nests. These don’t pose a stinging threat.
- It can maneuver quickly while flying to avoid being stung by attacking wasps.
So the tanager relies on surprise attacks and stealth when preying on stinging insects like wasps. It does not disturb active nests. This likely explains why wasps make up a relatively small percentage of its diet compared to less dangerous insects like butterflies and moths.
Benefits of Eating Wasps
Although wasps are not a primary food source, eating some wasps likely provides benefits to Summer Tanagers:
- Protein – Wasps are high in protein, helping fuel the tanager’s high metabolism.
- Pest control – Eating wasps helps control nuisance wasp populations and limit pressures on other insect species.
- Brood provisioning – Adult tanagers feed wasps and other insects to nestlings, helping ensure healthy chick development.
So while wasps make up a relatively small percentage of the overall diet, they provide an important supplemental protein source for Summer Tanagers.
Risks of Eating Wasps
There are some risks Summer Tanagers face when preying on wasps:
- Stings – Multiple stings could be fatal, so tanagers are cautious around nests.
- Allergies – Allergic reactions to stings can be dangerous.
- Energy cost – The energy spent hunting wasps may outweigh the caloric gains.
- Injury – Larger wasp species can inflict damage with strong mandibles.
However, Summer Tanagers seem to have adapted effective wasp hunting strategies to minimize risks. Their speed and stealth allow them to grab wasps before being stung. And they tend to avoid direct attacks on nests where they are outnumbered. So the benefits of supplemental protein from wasps likely outweigh the potential risks in most cases.
Other Birds That Eat Wasps
Many other bird species supplement their diets with wasps when the opportunity arises. Here are a few other examples:
- Eastern Bluebirds – They grab wasps in midair and eat the larvae from nests.
- Blue Jays – They raid paper wasp nests for the larvae within.
- Robins – They eat yellowjackets, paper wasps, and other species.
- Chickadees – They can be seen Hover-gleaning wasps from leaves and branches.
Insects with stingers have to be handled carefully. But many birds have adapted techniques to prey on wasps safely and harvest this rich protein source.
Advantages for Birds That Eat Wasps
Here are some key advantages birds like the Summer Tanager gain from eating wasps:
- High protein food source
- Helps control wasp populations
- Provides food for nestlings
- Adds diversity to diet
The risks from stings are real. But the benefits of nutrient-rich wasp meat lead many bird species to include some wasps in their diets.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Summer Tanagers do eat some wasps as part of their generalized insectivorous diet. However, wasps only make up around 10% of their food intake. They prefer less dangerous insects like bees, beetles, butterflies, and moths. Still, wasps provide a good protein supplement. And Summer Tanagers have adapted effective hunting strategies to grab wasps on the wing and limit stinging risks. They provide an example of how birds balance the risks and rewards of eating potentially dangerous insects like wasps. Careful hunting allows them to harvest wasps for food without suffering too many stings.