Hello Tweeters,

On Sunday Jan. 23 my husband and I observed some intriguing bird behavior.
This was along Seaway Hollow Road on Guemes Island (just north of
Anacortes). We noticed a pair of birds chasing each other high among the
trees. We had just ID'd them as Red-breasted Sapsuckers when they met in the
air and locked feet. With wings and tails flared, they spun as one bird down
through the branches to the ground. They were hidden behind tall grasses,
but we could hear them loudly squeak-mewing. After about a minute, they flew
up and away down the road out of sight.

Since male and female look the same, it was impossible to tell whether this
was courtship or combat. We've seen hawks in similar encounters, but never a
Picidae species. I couldn't find anything specific on this in the Birder's
Handbook or Sibley's Bird Life and Behavior. Can anyone shed more light on
this Sapsucker behavior?

We also saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler (dull, immature and/or female) -- the
first warbler we've seen in the Anacortes area since last fall. Also,
offshore were about twenty Red-breasted Mergansers: three or four males and
the rest females. They became very active at one point, taking short
"catch-up" flights, sort of leapfrogging each other in splashy encounters.
It seems this warm weather has stirred up the hormones!

Good birding,

Kristi Hein
Anacortes, Washington
khc at
picturesandwords.com