Subject: Re: bird chases
Date: Aug 28 08:55:43 1995
From: Stuart MacKay - stuart.mackay at mccaw.com


Dennis Paulson wrote:

> With our discussion last week of Barn Swallows chasing other birds, and my
> comment that many more birds probably interact than we think, I was
> nevertheless surprised to have this confirmed so quickly when in my yard on
> Friday, 25 Aug., I saw a Black-capped Chickadee chase a Yellow Warbler and,
> shortly thereafter, the same Yellow Warbler chase a Willow Flycatcher!

I often see such interactions in mixed warbler flocks in Fall both here and
back in the "Old Country". I wonder whether this is a display of "high
spirits" (whatever that means) rather than aggression as there never seems to
be any contact even when the bird being chased was displaced from a perch.
Chases also "seem" to start with birds from random locations - rather than
birds in close proximity where agression relating to competition for food
might be assumed to be an initiating factor.

Watching Fall warbler flocks must be one of the most absorbing activities
there is. Both from anticipation of what species is going to spring out of the
foliage next and looking at foraging and social behaviour. I got a major
surprise at seeing my first juvenile black-headed grosbeak the weekend before
last - "What the **** is that ?????"

Stuart
---
#import "StandardDisclaimer.h";

Stuart MacKay AT&T Wireless Services
Consultant Developer Oakhurst Building
Axys V4 14335 NE 24th St.
ph. (206) 702-5151 Bellevue, WA
fax (206) 702-5451 98007

stuart.mackay at mccaw.com
__________________________________________________________