Here you see a Monarch Butterfly sipping from a common milkweed floret on July 7:
Below, you’ll see two newly hatched Monarch Caterpillars chewing milkweed leaves on July 13:
In our neighborhood, we seem to have fewer Monarch Butterflies and Monarch Caterpillars this year than in other recent years of diminished sightings. It may be coincidental, but this year there has been an apparent influx of American Robins and Bluebirds near the milkweed patches that I monitor. Leighton Archive images of each:
Robins are among the birds that eat the butterflies. Bluebirds eat the caterpillars I learned recently from Sherry Streeter, our neighboring Monarch hostess and protector. These insects are supposed to be toxic and their bright colors are meant to warn predators away from them. However, that’s not always the case, research indicates.
Some birds that are Monarch predators have adapted by eating only parts of the regal butterflies; Bluebirds, before eating the caterpillars, reportedly squeeze them against a hard surface until most of their toxic content is exuded from both ends of the insect; then, they gobble them up with a crunch. Predatory insects and the occasional mouse also will attack the otherwise-beleaguered Monarchs at various stages of their development. These beautiful creatures just can’t catch a break, it seems. (Brooklin, Maine)