Dear Tweeters,

Ever since I first participated in Breeding Bird Atlas work, I have wondered about the "carrying food to nest" category of breeding confirmation. I was once told by a knowledgable birder that a passerine carrying food in the beak during breeding season was a clincher; it wasn't supposed to be terribly important to see the actual nest if you saw, say, a Robin fly by with a big caterpillar in its bill.

Today (October 25, 2002) I saw a Starling carrying a berry. Of course, this is not the breeding season. Still, I considered it an interesting observation. There were a dozen or so Starlings flying across open fields to a huge bigleaf maple where they spend a lot of time. I picked up the flock with my binoculars when it was a few hundred feet away , and noticed one bird with something in its beak. As it passed, it looked like a red elderberry. At any rate, the other EUST had empty bills. This one landed in the treetop, looked around, then swallowed the berry.

I really don't remember ever seeing a passerine "carrying food" any distance outside of the breeding season.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch



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