Hi Fred,
I've been away from email but just read your post.� I wonder if it somehow collided with some part of the building or was stunned from colliding with some other nearby building or structure.
It might be hard to believe, but it's estimated that Millions of birds die each year due to building collisions...
Jason Berry
Washington, DC
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From: Fred Hoffman <fredhoffman48...>
To: <mdbirding...>
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 10:00 PM
Subject: [MDBirding] Death of a Red-breasted Nuthatch
I had a very odd, and sad experience yesterday, October 22, 2012. �I was walking along the lake at the Washingtonian Shopping Center, near the Rio theater complex in Gaithersburg, when I saw a small bird fall from the roof of the complex, frantically trying to fly, and falling into into the water. �It was maybe 75 yards ahead of me. �It continued to struggle in the water for about a minute and then became still. �I initially was too far away to tell what species it was. �I figured it was probably a House Sparrow. �But as I approached the bird, still floating lifelessly on the water not far from shore, I could see it was a Red-breasted Nuthatch! �What a RBNU was doing in a Shopping Center, and why it made a leap into the lake is a mystery to me. �It was obviously injured, unable to fly, and perhaps diseased as there is no good reason for a Nuthatch to be in a treeless, concrete environment. �Perhaps it was injured by a predator and was trying to
escape. �I would be interested to hear comments.
Fred Hoffman
Rockville�
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