Two-for-one special

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Two-for-one special

August 12, 2015 by Mike Powell

I can understand how an adept female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) can catch one dragonfly, but how in the world did this one manage to catch two at once?

I can’t tell for certain, but the dragonflies in the bird’s mouth look to be female Common Whitetails (Plathemis lydia) or possibly immature males, which look like the females. The wings seem to be very transparent, so it’s possible too that these may be newly emerged dragonflies—when they first transition from the water nymph stage into dragonflies, they are very vulnerable.

Posted in Birds, Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Common Whitetail dragonfly, female Red-winged Blackbird, Huntley Meadows Park, Plathemis lydia, red-winged blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 6 Comments

6 Responses

on August 12, 2015 at 6:53 am | Reply svtakeiteasy

Great capture Mike!
on August 12, 2015 at 7:18 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

Indeed super capture!
on August 12, 2015 at 10:17 am | Reply krikitarts

That’s a mouthful and a half–well, OK, a double mouthful. She sure looks pleased with herself!
on August 12, 2015 at 12:35 pm | Reply waltersanford

I like the photo, but I can’t “Like” the post because I don’t like seeing my little friends eaten by big bully birds. Game over, man! Box score: Birds (2); Dragonflies (0).
on August 13, 2015 at 5:07 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Birds are amazing in general but this one seems even more so. Nice shot!
- on August 13, 2015 at 5:35 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Allen. As you know, I really like dragonflies, but blackbirds have to eat too.