BTP's are uncommon some years and absent most where I live SE of Portland. I o
nce found a dead BTP on my roof. Did it have a heart attack while flying over?
Was it struck by a Bushtit who didn't bother to retrieve it because the Busht
it has not yet evolved claws or bill powerful enough to rip open it's breast?
I don't know. There are no significant oaks in my vicinity.

Where I grew up in suburban central California, BTP's were uncommon most years
but abundant in a few. They even nested in my yard one year out of 15 in a Cal
ifornia Live Oak. The actual point of this rambling communique actually relat
es to BTP's & oaks. Once in 15 years I observed a flock of several hundred BTP
's moving through the oak woods in the late summer at my house on the SF Penins
ula. The vanguard of the flock moved on foot noisily through the dead, dry lea
ves on the oak woodland floor, looking for forage under the oaks (acorns perhap
s). The remainder of the flock would take to the air and overfly the vanguard,
becoming the new vanguard. This was a incredibly striking observation for me
and I have never seen it before or since. Shades of the Passenger Pigeon, I gu
ess. Has anyone seen or heard of this foraging behavior? bob o'brien