Tonight on my walk home from work, I noticed a Northern Flicker whipping from roof top to roof top. I had never seen this type of behavior so I stopped a second and watched it through my binoculars (yes, I carry my binoculars with me just about everywhere...and yes, it is nerdy).
The flicker was gleaning Box Elder Bugs off the roofs and chowing down on them. This time of year, invasions of Box Elder Bugs are pretty common.
I'm no avian biologist, but I can tell you with certain confidence that Flickers have no sense of taste. How can I make such a bold scientific statement? Today we had a Box Elder Bug in our sales office and I squished it in a tissue and threw it away in the trash basket under my desk. With in seconds the smell of Box Elder Bug guts was so overwhelming I had to get it out of the room. If it smelled that bad, logic has it that it would taste worse.
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