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Re: berry raids



Mockingbirds are interesting.  According to Stokes, they are one of very
few species in which pairs defend winter feeding territories.  A pair
took over our yard last winter and for the most part kept other birds
away from our feeders.  They started relaxing their grip in March and
other birds began to feed undisturbed.  This winter we seem to have only
a single Mockingbird that rarely interrupts the feeding activities of
other species.

Dick

Charles R. (Dick) Burk
Pinehurst, NC
crburk@mindspring.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Reece Mitchell <rmitche2@tds.net>
To: Sue Pulsipher <puls@infi.net>; Carolina Birds listserv
<carolinabirds@acpub.duke.edu>
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2002 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: berry raids


> Mockingbirds are terriorists but interesting. We recently had a flock
of
> about 50 mixed Robins and Waxwings. They fed on the holly for two
days, then
> a Mockingbird moved in and the Robins and Waxwings have gone. Can't
believe
> one Mockingbird could have chased them all away.
>                                            Reece Mitchell
>                                             Flat Rock
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sue Pulsipher" <puls@infi.net>
> To: "Carolina Birds listserv" <carolinabirds@acpub.duke.edu>
> Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2002 9:54 AM
> Subject: berry raids
>
>
> > A new yard species and a defeat for our local mocker.  The mocker
has
> > valiently defended the dogwood berries against all comers except two
> > species. A Pileated Woodpecker a couple of weeks ago was allowed to
feed
> > uninterrupted.  Today a flock of Rusty Blackbirds came in.  The
flock came
> > by at least three times.  No berries are obviously left on the
trees.
> >
> > The local Flickers the mocker chases fearlessly.  The mocker chased
one
> > flicker to its death through a window collision a couple of weeks
ago.
> What
> > deters the mockingbird appears to be large size or large flock.
> >
> > The other unusual, for us, visitor was a fox sparrow.  I was able to
look
> > out of a window and within ten feet compare four species of
sparrows --
> fox,
> > white throated, song and chipping.
> >
> > And now Susan Campbell reports hummingbirds in Fayetteville!  Great.
> >
> >
> > Sue Pulsipher
> > Linden, N.C.
> > puls@infi.net
> >
> >
>