Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) feeding at road kills
On two separate occasions, the authors had witnessed two Great Crested flycatchers attending road kills . On 12 June 1993 near Allgood in Blount County, two birds, sex unknown, were observed on the road-pavement near a dead Gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) . The’fox had apparently been dead for several days, and our assumption was that they were removing its hair with which to line their nest. On 10 May 1994 near Aliceville in Pickens County, we observed the same scenario, except this time it was a road-killed Eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvi/agus floridanus) . It also appeared to have been dead for several days. We found the flycatchers’ behavior interesting, but again not all that rare.
Author: Robert A. Sargent and Martha B. Sargent
Volume Number: 42 Year Published: 1996
Issue Number: 2
Page Number: 10
Link to article: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1996/Vol 42 No. 2_1996_p10-12.pdf
Link to the full issue of BirdLife: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1996/Vol 42 No. 2_1996.pdf