More than 150 species make up a group of native bees called mason bees, which handled pollination here long before European honeybees arrived.
“Solitary bees such as mason bees are perfectly adapted for great pollination,” says Matthew Shepherd, director of outreach and education for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Unlike honeybees that gather pollen in packages on their hind legs, mason bees belly-flop into blossoms, and the pollen clings to the hairs on their bodies. As a result, they can pollinate up to 2,000 flowers per day, according to Thyra McKelvie of Rent Mason Bees in Bothell, Washington. She also notes that each mason bee can do the work of 100 honeybees. And because they're well-adapted to the climate, they fly in cooler temperatures and brave drizzly conditions.
Gentle Gardeners
The busy fliers are valuable in home gardens because they pollinate an array of early-blooming plants. Plus, they're easy to raise and fun to watch.
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Sense or Nonsense? - Why some birds can taste and smell - but others can't
Does a porcelain berry taste like a blueberry to a gray catbird? Does a block of lard smell like frying bacon to a northern flicker? The short answer is no. While some avian species do have a well-adapted sense of taste or smell, they can't distinguish between flavors and odors the way humans can. They're not picking up every ingredient in the suet you put out, says José Ramírez-Garofalo, an ornithology researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the director of Freshkills Biological Station in Staten Island, New York.
Maple Mania - Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
Food-Focused and Fierce - Meet Canada jays and learn why they eat almost anything they can find
Even if you haven't heard of Canada jays, you've heard of their relatives. Members of the corvid family, they belong to the same group as American crows, blackbilled magpies, and jays including blue, Steller's and scrub. "Unlike many of the other jays, a Canada jay doesn't have a crest of any kind; it just has a rounded head," says Dale Gentry, director of conservation for Audubon Upper Mississippi River.In 2018, the Canada jay's name was changed from gray jay, but Dale thinks the former adjective was fitting. "Most of its body is shades of gray with some white," he says. "There are different subspecies that have different physical traits, but most of them have some lighter coloring on their foreheads, upper breasts and throats, each with a darker streak that starts at each eye and goes back."
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