My opinion is that there is a lot more courtship behavior going on
between birds that are resident birds through out the year and not just in
the spring. But, because humans think birds only settle down in the
spring we don't realise this courtship behavior is going on in the fall
and winter.

Deborah Raymond
not an expert
Seattle, Wa
dlr at u.washington.edu

> This morning on my walk in the Lake Hills Greenbelt I saw two SSHA cavorting
> together at Larsen L. I belive this is the first time I have seen two at once
> there. They were each sitting in different trees a few yards apart. Then one
> would fly toward the other which would takeoff and be chased in and out of the
> brush and trees until they landed in two different trees again. After a short
> time, the sequence would be repeated. I watched in 3-4 times before moving
> on. It appeared to be a type of courtship behavior, but it seems a little
> late in the year for this.