Last week we talked about a “brood parasite”–the brown-headed cowbird…While we are on the subject of parasites, let’s do another animal that has a bit of a gruesome natural history.
Check out these pictures:
Do you know what these structures are, what they are made of or who is responsible for them? Also, why do some of them have holes in them? If you know these answers, use the comment box below to give your guess. All correct guesses will be entered in the next drawing.
Click HERE to see if your guess was correct.
Those are dirt dauber nests. The ones with holes are where birds have eaten the eggs or larva. And as the name says they are made of dirt.
Thanks for guessing!
As kids we used to call these Dirt Dobber nests. (I think Mud Dauber might be more official)
They apparently fill the tunnels with paralyzed spiders or other bugs, so would the holes come from birds trying to get to the bugs?
Gruesome, right? I wouldn’t want to be one of the spiders! …thanks for taking time to guess.
They are mud dauber/wasp nests, made of muddy dirt. The holes are entrances and exists for the daubers.
Mud daubers
Thanks for guessing!