Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2001 20:06:29 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Rick Sussman Subject: "Attack" bluebird MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all, Has anyone else experienced this: I've got a bluebird box on a 4x4 wooden post, close to a hedgerow, but facing a large expanse of grass, willows surrounding a small pond, etc.,; in short, perfect bluebird habitat. After the Tree Swallow fledged their brood, I cleaned the nest out, and in moved the bluebirds. They had a number of eggs, though I couldn't get close enough to the box to see how many without the male swooping in on my head (though it never actually hit me). The young have hatched, and should fledge any day, but the male has expanded his "war zone" to anywhere within about 75-100 feet of the nest. When me or my neighbor walk our dogs nearby, the bird buzzes at them, and yesterday, I merely walked around the corner with the dog and the male came at me low and fast. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he'd taken attack lessons from a goshawk! I really hope the young fledge soon; it's getting ridiculous (sort of amusing too, I have to admit). When he swoops, he makes a clapping sound with his wings, very audible. I don't know whether this is made by clapping them above (or perhaps below) his body. Anyone else ever experience an "attack bluebird" ? My only other experience with them was a more normal pair that let me examine the box/young regularly. Rick Sussman Ashton,MD warblerick@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================