Burt Guttman writes:
> A few minutes ago, as I left the Evergreen campus, I was astonished to
> see a Pileated Woodpecker doing what, to me, is a very unwoodpeckerlike
> thing to do. It was moving around in the branches of a small tree (which
> I can't identify immediately), just like a passerine, and eating the
> berries. I've never seen this before. However, Bent notes that
> etc.

I had a couple of related experiences doing bird surveys this
summer. On two occasions I had Hairy Woodpeckers eating fruit.
Once I caught a HAWO in the act of hovering and picking Salmonberries
off a bush, at least that was the apprent object of its foraging.
A second time I watched a hairy feasting on Red Elderberries.
I thought that perhaps it was after insects on the bush, but I
checked the bush to see that in fact entire clumps of berries
had been removed leaving little groups of bare-ended stems.

Neil J. Fergusson ******************
1405 1/2 NE 56th St. * Baffins *
Seattle, WA 98105 * or *
(206) 517-5466 * bust *
cccc at u.washington.edu ******************