Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 09:47:05 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Janet Millenson Subject: Re: Nutty nuthatch? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit June Tveekrem responded to my 4/30 posting with the observation that "Nuthatches...evidently clean out the hole they're intending to nest in before bringing in new nesting material." Well, sure, but what baffled me was that the maple leaves in this hole were virtually all totally fresh and unwilted, as if they had been snipped just a few hours earlier. Yet the nuthatch was seen popping into this same hole the day before, so any previous "owner" must have been long gone. So who put the leaves in? Anyway, don't most cavity nesters line their holes with dried grasses, shreds of bark, and similar fibrous materials? Maple leaves (with stems attached) seem a very odd choice. You can just imagine the bird's mate rolling her eyes, sighing, and refusing to lay any eggs until he gets those silly leaves out of the house and brings back something more sensible. Janet Millenson Potomac, MD janet@twocrows.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Look at the birds!" -- Pascal the parrot ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================