Andy,

I haven't seen or heard of this in Pine Warblers, but a few years back we 
saw two male Baltimore Orioles doing the same as we drove down the road to 
Pennyfield Lock.  In that case they stayed locked in combat all the way to 
the ground and ended up in the road before they let go and flew off in a 
chase.

Jim Nelson
Bethesda, MD

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From: "Andy Martin" <>
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 10:38 PM
To: <>
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Pine Warbler behavior question

> I have been checking an evergreen stand (adjacent to hunter's parking area 
> off Montevideo Rd) within Seneca Crk SP since late last week for arrival 
> of a Pine Warbler. Today, as soon as I got out of car, heard familiar 
> trill and got binos on nice male. A couple moments later, the bird I was 
> watching (not looking through binos at this point) started to tangle with 
> another bird and they locked together and spiraled downward about 20 feet 
> before breaking apart. Looked exactly like a miniature version of 2 Bald 
> Eagles doing same thing on some nature show.
>
> I never got to see the other bird in the binos. Was this more likely two 
> males fighting for territory or male/female courtship behavior? Thanks for 
> help.
>
> Andy Martin
> Gaithersburg
>