The mosquito is prey for many birds.
Several species of birds use their acrobatic flying skills to capture and then consume insects such as wasps, bees, mosquitoes, midges, flies and Japanese beetles in flight. Birds of this nature that reside in northern climates must migrate south in the winter because flying insects are not available in the cold weather. Birds that eat flying insects include many types of swallows, as well as those from a family called the flycatchers.
Barn Swallows
Barn swallows use mud to reinforce their nests.
Barn swallows enjoy the largest global distribution of any swallow, breeding in most of the Northern Hemisphere and overwintering in the Southern Hemisphere. Barn swallows in North America live as far north as southern Alaska and the Yukon Territory in Canada, spending winters in Central and South America. They once inhabited caves, but now take advantage of man-made structures such as barns, sheds, bridges and culverts in which to build their grass and mud nests. Barn swallows have an easily recognizable, long-forked tail and steel-blue upper part, with a buff breast. They are close relatives to other flying insect eating birds, such as the bank swallow and cliff swallow. Some barn swallows may fly as far as 600 miles in a single day as they traverse the airways in search of bugs, according to the "National Audubon Field Guide to Birds."
Eastern Phoebe
The eastern phoebe is what ornithologists describe as a tyrant flycatcher--a bird that eats flying insects and defends its territory fiercely against birds as large as owls and hawks. The eastern phoebe will sit on a wire or an exposed limb of a tree and quickly fly out to snatch a bug from the air. The bird then returns to its original perch and devours the bug. The eastern phoebe lives in the eastern half of the United States, retreating to the Deep South during the winter months. The bird is about 7 inches long and a dark grayish brown above with olive green sides. It gets its name from its call, which sounds like "fee-bee." John James Audubon reportedly did the first experiments of banding birds to study their habits as early as 1804 by attaching a silver thread to one's leg. A peculiar habit of this bird is that it will frequently pump its tail up and down.
Purple Martin
Purple martin.
The largest swallow in all of North America, the purple martin, inhabits much of the eastern United States and parts of Canada. The purple martin lives almost exclusively in birdhouses that homeowners provide. Purple martins are beneficial birds, eating huge numbers of flying bugs, but a common misconception is that they can keep mosquito populations in check. In truth, the purple martin flies at heights to gobble up bugs that mosquitoes seldom reach. Purple martins migrate south to South America, but return to many of the same locations each year. The purple martin drinks by flying low over a river, pond or lake and scooping up a bit of water as it passes by. The purple martins can be 8 1/2 inches long. Males are bluish, and females are a duller shade.
Tags: Barn swallows, flying insects, purple martin, bird that, eastern phoebe, inches long