Diet
Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds are omnivorous, but are considered to be arboreal insectivores since the majority of their diet consists of insects. Wetmore and Post performed studies to determine the dietary habits of the nominate form A. x. xanthomus. The studies analyzed the stomach contents of several individuals (25 by Post and 55 by Wetmore) and found evidence of consumption of insects belonging to the orders Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Dermaptera and Hymenoptera, arachnid material of the order Araneae, unidentified molluscs, and plant matter. Aside from natural material, the species also consumes processed food such as cattle ration, human food (cooked rice and sugar), dog food and monkey chow. Plant matter was acquired from processed foods while insects are gleaned from the canopy and sub-canopy layers of trees. During the nesting season their diet is composed of 90% arthropod material.
Studies have not been performed to determine the dietary habits of the Mona subspecies, but consumption of insects, spiders, fruits from Pithecellobium spp. and the cacti Selenicereus spp., Pilosocereus royenii, Harrisia portoricensis, and Opuntia spp., seeds from gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba) and Ficus spp. and nectar from Aloe vera, yucca and Croton discolor have been observed.
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