Ask MDC

By MDC | November 1, 2024
From Missouri Conservationist: November 2024
Body

Got a question for Ask MDC? Send it to AskMDC@mdc.mo.gov or call 573-522-4115, ext. 3848.

Q: Is this a hermit thrush? The photo was taken in Oregon County.

Yes, this is a hermit thrush.

Missouri is home to numerous small brown birds, which can be challenging to identify. But with attention to detail and practice, even novice birdwatchers can begin to identify Missouri’s native songbirds.

Hermit thrushes are chunky, like a robin, but slightly smaller. They are a warm brown on their heads and back with distinctively reddish tails. Their underparts are pale with spots on the throat and smudges on the breast. They have a pale, thin eye-ring; a bolder eye-ring with buffy lores means you may be seeing a Swainson’s thrush.

These birds head north in summer months, but they migrate here in October and can be found through the winter until spring.

Since they eat mainly insects — beetles, caterpillars, bees, ants, wasps, and flies — they don’t visit bird feeders. They also occasionally eat small amphibians and reptiles. In the winter, they change their diet to eat more fruit, including wild berries.

They like to forage on the forest floor, staring at the soil, picking up leaf litter with their bills, and shaking bits of grass to stir up insects.

Q: Are Missouri winters cold enough for bears to hibernate?

Yes. In Missouri, black bears usually retire to their winter dens between mid-November and mid-December to hibernate. Females with cubs tend to den the earliest, females with yearlings next, then adult males, followed by subadult males, which den last.

Bodily functions are greatly slowed; they do not eat, drink, or defecate. Their metabolic rate drops by as much as 50 percent, body temperature dips 1 to 7 degrees below normal, pulse rate lowers from 140 to 66 beats per minute, and breathing slows to a rate of 2 to 5 times a minute. They are in alternate periods of deep to light sleep and some bears might leave their dens for short periods during warm spells.

This period of winter inactivity extends until April. They lose weight during hibernation and will continue to lose weight for a few weeks thereafter. They’ll eat green vegetation for nourishment and to activate their dormant digestive systems.

Q: This fungus was found inside a well house in Stone County. It appears it “exploded” with a large amount of brown powdery substance landing on everything stored there. Can you identify it?

Many mushroom experts formerly called this species Ganoderma lucidum. But it is more correctly Ganoderma curtisii as Ganoderma lucidum does not occur naturally in North America.

All the Ganoderma species produce massive amounts of brown spores.

Sometimes called “golden reishi,” this species is widespread east of the Rocky Mountains. It has a gorgeous lacquered cap and pale brown flesh. It can grow alone or in groups on decaying logs and stumps. It also grows from the wounds of injured, living trees.

Ganoderma species of mushrooms have been used in traditional medicine in East Asian cultures. However, mushrooms can be challenging to identify. We caution people to be careful before ingesting any mushroom they find in the wild; some species can be quite poisonous.

For more information, visit short.mdc.mo.gov/4Do.

This Issue's Staff

Magazine Manager - Stephanie Thurber
Editor - Angie Daly Morfeld
Associate Editor - Larry Archer
Photography Editor – Ben Nickelson
Staff Writer - Kristie Hilgedick
Staff Writer - Joe Jerek
Staff Writer – Dianne Van Dien
Designer - Marci Porter
Designer – Lyndsey Yarger
Photographer - Noppadol Paothong
Photographer - David Stonner
Circulation – Marcia Hale