Dragonflies are among the most voracious predators in the entire animal kingdom. In an effort to satisfy their appetites they capture and devour a wide range of prey animals including bees, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies and other flying insects.
The insatiable appetites of some species of dragonflies are legendary. For example, a single dragonfly can eat literally hundreds of mosquitoes in a single day.
A scientist once tried to see if he could determine how many houseflies it would take to satisfy the hunger of dragonfly. He held a dragonfly in place by tying down its wings. He then proceeded to feed it houseflies one at a time. Several hours later, the researcher gave up when the dragonfly showed no signs of having eaten its fill!
Hmmm, this sounds like all homeowners should rejoice when the see dragonflies patrolling their backyards.
So, I’m afraid to ask; but, which birds eat the most dragonflies?
We had lots of them last year; I’ve seen very few this year.
Also, we’re in north Alabama. You’ve had cicadas; Birmingham has cicadas… we have not heard even one cicada so far – why?
Thank you!
It is surprising how many different birds eat adult dragonflies. This lists includes the swallows (including purple martins, Mississippi Kites, belted kingfishers, dlycatcheers, kingbirds, falcons, swallow-tailed kites, herons, and phoebes o name a few. Bats will even eat them.
As for the cicadas, this year was the year that Brood XIX emerged this year. As such only those areas withing this brood’s range were seen this year.
Annual cicadas, as their name suggests, emerge every year, I have not seen/heard them yet this year.
I hope this info helps.