Hi Denny,

The behavior you observed is very common for NOMO, holding food in the bill
and not going to nest. I studied NOMO in New Mexico and monitored around
125 nests over three years. I never once saw them feed the chicks. The
behavior you described is classic and indicates that you were probably in
the general vicinity of the nest. This standing still and silent behavior
is a cue that I used to start my nest searches. More often than not, I was
able to locate a nest in an area using this silent still behavior. Often,
the birds would keep flying around a general pattern throughout the area,
moving from bush top to bush top, being silent and simply watching me. This
was my clue that a nest was near. Thus, the birds at Horn Rapids are most
likely nesting.

Interestingly, I only once encountered the aggressive intruder behavior that
is common occurrence with backyard NOMO in the east while studying the birds
in NM.

Jeff Kozma
Yakima