An Anole Dines at a Hummingbird Feeder - Observation of the Week, 9/23/18

This Green Anole lapping up some sugar water at a hummingbird feeder is our Observation of the Week! It was seen in Louisiana by @vanremsen.

Van Remsen remembers being interested in pretty all types of plants and animals when he was a child, and says he had “the usual collections of bugs in jars, pressed leaves, and tropical fish tanks, and I was always fascinated with identifications.  I wanted to be able to identify every living creature in my Colorado backyard.” Birds eventually became the focus of his passion and he is now a Professor of Biological Sciences and Curator of Birds at the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, where his focus is in Neotropical birds.

“I am especially interested in hummingbirds, and my Louisiana yard is an overgrown jungle of hummingbird-pollinated plants,” explains Van. He watches his feeders and has noticed Green Anole lizards on them from time to time.

I have glimpsed them suspiciously licking the feeder ports previously, but this time I was determined to photograph just exactly what this one was doing because I did not know whether this species had ever been documented drinking “nectar” (in this case sugar water).  The photo shows the tongue licking the solution, but the video link [see below] makes it clear that it is deliberately drinking from the feeder.  The question is, could it smell that the solution in the hole in the plastic “flower” was sugary and thus worth sampling, or did it just sample the liquid by chance and thus learned that it was sugary.

Herpetologist @gregpauly posted links to a few other sightings of Anoles at hummingbird feeders, but as far as I can tell Van’s question of how the lizards find the “nectar” is still unknown. However, in a paper cited here, an Emerald Anole was observed biting the red knob of a stopwatch, suggesting that color might be a factor, just as it is for the birds. Many anoles are known to eat fruit and nectar, and really who can turn down delicious sugar water, especially if it involves confusing and annoying a hummingbird?

Van heard about iNaturalist from two graduate students at the LSUMNS, @cypseloides and @henicorhina, and he uses it to help identify the non-bird organisms he comes across. 

- by Tony Iwane


- In case you can’t get enough Anoles-eating-at-hummingbird-feeder action (I can’t) here are some more videos

- Here’s a nice article in The Advocate about Van Remsen and the LSU ornithological collection.

- And a video of Van Remsen receiving the 2013 William Brewster Memorial Award from the American Ornithologists’ Union.

Posted on 24 de setembro de 2018, 05:16 AM by tiwane tiwane

Comentários

Cool! I don't think the hummer was fond of sharing...then again, they rarely are.

Publicado por lovebirder mais de 5 anos antes

I wonder what the anole does with all that sugar afterwards.

Publicado por ddennism mais de 5 anos antes

Sad!

Publicado por davidpickett mais de 5 anos antes

Hilariously resourceful little anole. Thank you for sharing!

Publicado por hollywesberry mais de 5 anos antes

That's pretty cool ! Definitely a unique observation to add to my Bird Feeders project. (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bird-feeders)

Publicado por mws mais de 5 anos antes

So there are squirrel raiding bird feeders and now we have anoles. This is cool. Thanks for sharing

Publicado por briancriter mais de 5 anos antes

Wonderful photo! Here's an anole I caught at a feeder in Martinique: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2820277
It's the underside of the feeder--not nearly as pretty.

Publicado por erikamitchell mais de 5 anos antes

What a sweet observation! I did not know anoles like sweets. Love, love the video! Thank you for sharing this. It was funny to see it chillin' on the feeder drinking, while hummingbirds were trying to get their fill.

Publicado por walkingstick2 mais de 5 anos antes

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