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

Q: What shrub is this?

This tree is a native rough-leaved dogwood. The four-petaled white or cream flowers and the leaf veins curving to run parallel to the leaf edge suggest it’s a type of dogwood. Viburnums also are common shrubs or trees with similar opposite leaves, but their leaves don’t have this vein characteristic.

Rough-leaved dogwood is very common across the state, and its fruits are eaten by at least 40 species of birds, including turkey and quail. It can spread and become a problem in open grasslands and prairies, but it should “behave” in roadsides and wooded areas. It does have a propensity to send up new shoots from its roots or base, forming a bushy spread rather than staying a single-stemmed tree. Property owners might keep an eye on this tree in their yards if they don’t want it to spread. 

The flowers provide nectar and pollen to many native bees, including small and large carpenter bees, leaf-cutter bees, sweat bees, and mining bees. 

The white, globe-shaped fruit — edible only to birds — develop from August through October. But nature-lovers enjoy seeing the flowers in late spring.

Q: When I put out shelled peanuts, grackles will sometimes pick them up and dunk them in the birdbath. I know raccoons wash food in water, but why would a bird do this?

The grackles may be dunking peanuts because they prefer nuts to have a slightly mushier consistency. Water softens the food to a more enjoyable or palatable consistency, and it provides a way to include water into their diet. And, possibly, softened food might be easier for nestlings to digest. 

According to a scientific study by researchers from McGill University, dunking behavior, the dipping of food in water, has been anecdotally observed in more than 25 species of birds in the wild, but its function and ecology have not been systematically studied.

The study showed “…the frequency of dunking was higher with hard, dry food than with soft, moist food. Thus, dunking appears to be a food-processing technique that eases ingestion of dry and/or hard food through softening.”

The McGill researchers also noted, “Most grackles were observed eating dunked food on the spot, but because the breeding status of birds departing with dunked food was not known, we cannot reject the possibility that dunked food was given to nestlings; indeed, one free-ranging female was observed dunking bread and feeding it to a nearby juvenile in February 2002.” 

To read the McGill study, visit short.mdc.mo.gov/oSy.

Q: What does groundhog scat look like? 

It’s a great question, but I don’t have a photo to share with you because groundhog scat is buried. Defecation usually occurs in a pile of soil at the entrance of the burrow. There, a hole is dug for the droppings, which are then buried with the front feet. The droppings are long and rounded (or slightly coiled). They measure between 1½ to 3 inches in length. If the woodchuck doesn’t leave the burrow, defecation occurs in a blind tunnel, and the droppings are similarly covered with soil. The young defecate in the nest. The mother keeps the nest clean by changing the leaf-and-grass lining.