Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 21:06:10 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Arlene Ripley Subject: Re: Picking his fights carefully In-Reply-To: <1a3.d156ef5.2b25179d@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 04:46 PM 12/8/02, Tom Beal wrote: > > Cardinals often attack their reflection, but isn't that usually >during the breeding season? Is this guy just frustrated and attacking >the only male who can't 'fight back'? Well, I've got an unusual story to tell about a window-attacking bird. Every winter a female YB Sapsucker shows up at my raw suet feeder that hangs on a maple tree. She spends the whole winter here but always alone. Two weeks ago I spotted her (I'm drawing a possibly incorrect conclusion that it's the same bird returning every year) on the beech tree outside my computer room window but this time she was in the company of a male, so it appeared she wouldn't spend another lonely winter. Not less than 15 minutes after spotting the "couple," I opened the sliding glass door to our deck and right at my feet was the male. Dead -- a window-strike precipitated by a visit from one of the accipiters that always seem to be in the vicinity. From that day on, the female has been at most of the upper windows of my house, pecking at the windows from dawn until dusk with breaks for food (the suet smeared on the windows is evidence that she is eating). The wooden platform feeder attached to the windowsill has been attacked with a vengeance, the wood pecked and splintered. In desperation, I've put the screens back on all of the upper windows and this has stopped her window visits. I can only conclude that she is trying to find her mate as territorial nesting behavior can certainly be ruled out. I've never had a sapsucker pecking at my window only inches from where I sit, completely undeterred by my presence. I'm really sad that she lost her mate/friend. Arlene Ripley Calvert County, MD aripley@nestbox.com http://www.nestbox.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================