Subject: towhees, wrens, dogs & cats
Date: Nov 8 16:43:01 1995
From: Steven Coles - scoles at zebu.serv.net


Last summer a pair of towhees very vocally protected a spot (I assume a
nest) about 2 m from a country path mostly used by loose dogs & feral
cats. They seemed able to drive off the dogs & cats. The really odd
thing was the assistance provided by a pair a wrens using a nest box 5 or
6 m away. The wrens made far more fuss when "helping" the towhees chase
me off than when I approached their own nest box. Does anybody know
anything about interspecies "helping" behavior?

Steven S. Coles
Seattle, Washington State, U.S.A.
<scoles at zebu.serv.net>