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BIRDCHAT for Thursday, July 2, 2009
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Subject: Re: Why mob a Purple Martin?
From: Ted Floyd <tedfloyd57(AT)hotmail.com>
Date: 2 Jul 2009 9:50am
Hello, BirdChatters.
Rick Wright wrote:
> I've posted at http://birdaz.com/blog a couple of lackluster photos
> of Purple Martins mobbed by House Finches. This is a very common
> behavior here in the southwest, but I can't figure out why they would
> do it: what, besides the fairly remote potential for nest site competition,
> could move the finches to such enmity? Somebody out there must
> know the answer!
I don't know the answer.
In thinking about the question, though, I realized, once again, how we birders
are so adept at "thinking inside the box," if you will. Well, at least *I* do a
good job of that.
My first reaction was to think of an episode, several years ago, in which I was
tricked into believing that a Purple Martin was a falcon. It was a bird on
apparent diurnal migration, well out of range and way out of habitat, and it
just looked like a little falcon powering toward the birding group I was in.
Note, by the way, that "swallows (especially Purple Martin) are very similar in
shape to Merlin and can easily be mistaken," according to The Sibley Guide (p.
128). My think-inside-the-box reaction to Rick's question was something along
the lines of, "Well, Purple Martins can be falconlike...and mobbing is directed
toward falcons and other raptors...so that must be the explanation."
The problem, I think, is the assumption that mobbing (Rick's "enmity") ought to
be directed against big, mean birds like falcons, hawks, crows, and the like.
Yes, we're trained to think that way (well, I've trained myself to think that
way), and we somehow turn a blind eye on all the other instances of
interspecific aggression out there. Such instances are ubiquitous, once you
start to pay attention.
Yesterday, for example, I made an effort to pay attention and I noticed
Bushtit-on-Black-headed Grosbeak violence, American Robin-on-House Finch
violence, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher-on-Bushtit violence--all during the course
of 1 hour of observation. Meanwhile, an aerial aggregation of dozens of
White-throated Swifts, 2 American Kestrels, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, and 1 Peregrine
Falcon was perfectly well behaved.
Here's a recent account of how two Spotted Towhees totally whaled on a poor
Northern Waterthrush:
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds/browse_thread/thread/3660d822d246d80d/55ed21c7999d04c0?lnk=gst&q=tedfloyd#55ed21c7999d04c0
Because we've been conditioned to look for a particular sort of "mobbing
behavior" (kingbirds chasing crows, blackbirds divebombing hawks, etc.), we're
good at noticing it. Sure, that happens a lot. But I think bird-on-bird
violence--for example, House Finches on Purple Martins--is a pervasive,
"broadband" phenomenon.
Ted Floyd
tedfloyd57(AT)hotmail.com
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
-------------------------------
Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding
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Subject: Re: Why mob a Purple Martin?
From: Richard Gregson <sparroworks(AT)gmail.com>
Date: 2 Jul 2009 10:02am
The more I watch birds, the more I enjoy being with them, the more conviced
I become that your average "sweet little dickie-bird" is not much more than
a street thug in his/her behaviour to others. Squabbling and aggression
seem to be the default setting for an awful lot of them.
Richard
Montreal
On 7/2/09, Ted Floyd <tedfloyd57(AT)hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello, BirdChatters.
>
>
> Yesterday, for example, I made an effort to pay attention and I noticed
> Bushtit-on-Black-headed Grosbeak violence, American Robin-on-House Finch
> violence, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher-on-Bushtit violence--all during the
> course of 1 hour of observation. Meanwhile, an aerial aggregation of dozens
> of White-throated Swifts, 2 American Kestrels, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, and 1
> Peregrine Falcon was perfectly well behaved.
>
>
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Subject: Switzerland Trip Report - sort of long
From: Tom Arny <tarny(AT)theriver.com>
Date: 2 Jul 2009 11:17am
Switzerland – June 2009
With brief stops in Italy, Liechtenstein, and Germany
The recent postings about birding in Provence and Tuscany encouraged
me to make a short post about a recent trip that my wife and I made
to Switzerland and nearby. The trip was planned to look for
Wallcreeper and to visit two baroque churches as well as to view the
fabulous Byzantine mosaics in several churches in Ravenna, Italy. In
addition, we wanted to do some walking and birding/wildflower viewing
in the alps.
We had originally hoped to make the trip last year, but
it proved so difficult to find good birding info about Switzerland
that we had to put the trip off to allow time for gathering more
info. Although I had a copy of “Where to Watch Birds in
Switzerland”. I found the book not very helpful unless one already
had a pretty clear idea of where one wanted to go. It lacks a decent
map (no labels of cities or other features on the map, for example)
and it had no index of locations, so you couldn’t look up Zermatt in
the index to find what might be looked for there. Web searching also
failed at that time to turn up much useful, but that changed when I
finally found two very helpful webpages on birdwatching near Leuk in
the Rhone Valley, not too far from Zermatt.
www.birdforum.net/opus/Leukerbad and www.birdforum.net/opus/Leukerfeld
I also found a number of trip reports of tours to the Evolene/Arolla
area very helpful. These led me to Mike Bowman, who lives in Geneva
and who made many very helpful suggestions.
We made all travel arrangements with SwissSafari, who
provided a driver who spoke French, Gerrman, and Italian, as well as
English (He knew nothing of the birds, but was very tolerant of
requests to "Could we stop here? It looks good for birds, however).
My own freshman level German and French got us through meals on our
own. Most everyone we encountered spoke a little English and since
Switzerland has four official languages, I sometimes found myself
asking for drinks in broken German and main courses in rickety
French. Anyhow, everyone we met was very helpful and tolerant of our
poor language skills.
I found birding very tough. Birds were hard to see
except in gardens. Many seemed to have a “flit and sit” behavior.
I’d hear the bird singing in a tree top, but it wouldn’t move about.
Then it would flit to a different tree and sing again. Despite this,
we managed to see or hear many of the classic European birds, such as
Cuckoo (easily identifiable by its song which sounds, naturally, like
a cuckoo-clock), Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, Blue Tit, etc. A full
list of our sightings is given below.
SWISS BIRD LIST
Great Crested Grebe
Great Cormorant
Grey Heron
White Stork (Italy)
Spoonbill (Italy)
Mute Swan
Graylag Goose
Mallard
Common Pochard
Black Kite
Red Kite
Honey Buzzard
Golden Eagle
Common Kestrel
Common Coot
Black-headed Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Common Tern
Collared Dove
Common Swift
Alpine Swift
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
Kingfisher
Hoopoe (Italy)
Crag Martin
Cuckoo
Barn Swallow
House Martin
Tree Pipit
White Wagtail
Wren
White-throated Dipper
Dunnock
Alpine Accentor
Redstart
Black Redstart
Northern Wheatear
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Fieldfare
Ring Ouzel
Reed Warbler
Marsh Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Willow Tit
Crested Tit
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
European Nuthatch
Wallcreeper
Eurasian Treecreeper
Eurasian Jay
Magpie
Nutcracker
Alpine Chough
Carrion Crow
Common Raven
Common Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Common Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Linnet
Yellowhammer
Snowfinch
In addition to the above birds, we saw an Ibex at Nufenden pass, many
Marmots on the hillsides near Arolla, and numerous lovely butterflies
and wildflowers. In fact, the many alpine and roadside wildflowers
(red poppies, pasqueflowers, primula, larkspur, and a variety of
gentians), were a high point of the trip. Scenery was, of course,
gorgeous: glaciers, snow-capped peaks, deep beech forest, etc.
Weather was excellent the whole trip, apart from light
sprinkles part of one day at Arolla. Ravenna was warm, but not
stifling. Arolla was cool but not frigid.
Below is our itinerary.
June 8 – Few Tucson to Dallas, Dallas on to London
June 9 – Flew London to Milan
June 10 – Visited Churches in Ravenna to view Byzantine mosaics –
spent a few hours at Punta Alberte a nature reserve north of Ravenna
June 11 – Drove Ravenna to Zermatt via Lake Como and Nufenden pass.
June 12 – Cog-rail to Gornergrat. Worked way back down mountain on
foot and by the cog-rail.
June 13 – Drove to Leukerbad
June 14 – Spent most of day at Feschel Gorge near Leuk, looking for
Wallcreeper
June 15 – Put in another 2 hours at gorge, successfully this time,
then drove to Arolla
June 16 – Hiked trails above Arolla
June 17 – Drove Lucerne to Fussen, via Lake Neuchatel and
Liechtenstein. Spent a few hours at Fanel Reserve on Lake
Neuchatel . Spent about an hour in AM at Jesuit Church in Lucerne.
Spent an hour plus looking for birds in a reserve by Prince’s Palace
in Liechtenstein.
June 18 – Drove Fussen, Germany to Munich , via Farchant. Germany
Birded trail to Kuhflucht Falls and made short visit to Wieskirche in
mid-afternoon.
June 19 – Flew from Munich back to US.
Birding was done on
June 10 - few hours at Punta Alberte reserve
June 12 – most of day at Gornergrat and trails down.
June 14 – most of day looking for Wallcreeper
June 15 – few hours AM looking for Wallcreeper and few
hours in Arolla
June 16 – Hiking at Arolla and brief drive to look for
dipper near Evolene
June 17 - a few hours at Fanel Reserve and an hour at a
reserve in Liechtenstein
June 18 – a few hours along Kuhsflucht Falls trail
Tom Arny
tarny(AT)theriver.com
Box 545, Patagonia, AZ
USA
85624
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Subject: Provence and Tuscany (...and Catalonia, Spain)
From: Stephen Christopher <s.christopher(AT)telefonica.net>
Date: 2 Jul 2009 1:48pm
Hi Tim (and all)
As you mentioned Spain... I've just updated my blog (although photos
are yet to follow) for May 09 in Catalonia, Spain, here:
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/spainbirding/
If you want to pick a month, just hit the "archives" link in the
right hand column.
Incidentally, more general info on the best locations to visit in
Catalonia, etc. can be found here:
http://www.catalanbirdtours.com/
All the best
Stephen Christopher
www.catalanbirdtours.com
Birding Holidays and Bird Tours in Spain
www.surfbirds.com/blog/spainbirding/
Spain Birding blog, trip reports and photos
!! 10% Discount !! on all shared birding short-breaks and holidays
(offer ends 31 July 2009).
On 2 Jul 2009, at 00:13, Tim Boucher wrote:
> I have to say that in all my years on Birdchat (more than I'd care to
> admit), I can't honestly remember seeing posts on Provence and
> Florence!
> Very few posts on Europe at all. The funny thing is that my mother
> keeps
> asking us if we don't want to see (fill in the blank: some European
> city or
> attraction - the Louvre, the Prado, etc.) and seems baffled when
> every trip
> is a birding trip. But you saw birds on the last trip, she says!
>
> Though I have to admit that I do have a secret hankering to see
> Provence and
> Tuscany as well as Portugal and Spain...
>
> Ellen Paul
> Chevy Chase MD
>
> BirdChat Guidelines: http://www.ksu.edu/audubon/chatguidelines.html
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