On Fri, 7 Nov 1997, Peggi & Ben Rodgers wrote:
> Interestingly, I watched a pair of rufus-sided towhees one day when one of
> them hit the window. As it lay dazed, the other walked (well, hopped)
> around it nudging it gently with its beak. Eventually the injured bird
> recovered and the two took off together. I didn't realize they developed
> such a strong bond.

I observed the same sort of thing with a pair of Western Grebes at
Tillamook a couple of years ago. One was stranded in a whole against the
south jetty at Tillamook Bay, and the other sat there. I picked the one
bird up, and the other bird ran in front of us (yes, ran--it looked much
like Clyde the Orangutan in Every Which Way But Loose) until it reached
the water, where I deposited its mate and they swam through the breakwater
together.

I would note that the three-inch beak in combination with the glaring red
eyes in pretty formidable from a front view. RK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Korpi "Television doesn't allow much depth."
Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA --Dan Rather, interviewed by
rkorpi at clark.edu Don Imus, 11/6/97
Compiler, Portland, OR CBC, January 3, 1998
President, Oregon Field Ornithologists
--New members always welcome--