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Re: MDOSPREY Digest - 16 Jul 2007 to 17 Jul 2007 (#2007-199)

From:

Bryce Butler

Reply-To:

Bryce Butler

Date:

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:10:59 -0400

Jay,
  A few years back I was at Oregon Ridge for May Count when I watched a very
similar incident between two males. Both appeared to be mature in feather
color and size. In this case the birds circled the lower trunk and descended
to the lawn where they laboriously hopped on the ground side by side in
parallel. About every third hop they would stop, turn to face one another
with beaks raised perpendicularly in the air. After holding that pose for a
brief period, they would turn back and resume their parallel course across
the lawn. They coursed a couple of hundred feet of lawn in this fashion then
mounted separate trees, They flew around one another calling and landing in
trees, separately and together. It wasn't clearly hostile as there was no
striking out or flaring of wings. An ornithologist I talked to about it
speculated the males might have been working out the boundaries of their
territories in a fashion similar to behavior he had observed in Northern
Mockingbirds. So there's another theory.
Bryce Butler
Baltimore, MD



On 7/18/07 12:00 AM, "MDOSPREY automatic digest system"
<> wrote:

> Date:    Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:57:35 GMT
> From:    "" <>
> Subject: Mysterious Pileated Woodpecker behavior
> 
> Diane called across the house this morning, "Jay bring your binoc!"  She=
>  directed my attention in the oak/hickory woods behind our house where w=
> e saw two male Pileateds circling one another on an oak tree.  They conf=
> ined the circling to the bottom 5 feet or so of the tree, the "pursuer" =
> seemingly smaller (and perhaps younger) than the "pursued".  Occasionall=
> y, the "pursuer" would strike out causing the "pursued" to partially ext=
> end its wings and parry the thrust.  Once or twice the two would interlo=
> ck their bills for a few seconds, then the behavior would repeat itself.=
>   There were no vocalizations during this drama.
> We can't decide what may be causing this not-before-seen behavior in our=
>  yard.  The only two theories (one held by Diane, the other by me) are t=
> hat this is territorial behavior with the "pursuer" was a younger male c=
> hallenging the older for a piece of his action, or that it's a parent bi=
> rd insisting that he is no longer responsible for care and feeding of th=
> e younger bird -- who is having trouble letting go.
> Would anyone like to venture another theory or cast a vote as to theory =
> 1 or 2??
> Thanks in advance,
> Jay Jones
> Derwood, MD
>