Predators on Butterflies

[Trevor Boyd]

On this side of the Atlantic (Ireland), I have had several reports of birds, usually blue tits, perching on branches overlooking flowering buddleia bushes and picking off any butterflies which land on the flowers to nectar.  This can go on for days on end resulting in hundreds of disembodied wings of several different species lying around the bushes.  It seems that some birds learn this trick, but others never do, fortunately for the butterflies!

Trevor Boyd
Northern Ireland
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