After the fact, as they flew away, I realized I hadn't noticed whether they were male or female or one of each - it happened so quickly and was so surprising. It did occur to me that perhaps it wasn't helping behavior, but somehow, it looked like it. Marsha Kardon
----- Original Message ----- From: "M Kardon" <mk2...@pol.net> To: "Cayuga Bird List Cayuga Bird List" <cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 3:09:31 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [cayugabirds-l] witnessed bird drama Yesterday morning I heard the thump of a bird strike on the dining room window (the only one without a spider web decal on it, so maybe they work). I walked over to check for a downed bird, arriving within 10-15 seconds of the thump, and saw two Baltimore orioles on the grass just under the windows, one with its wings partially out and face down, the other standing right next to it. Within a second or two of my arrival at the window, the standing bird pecked the other bird on the neck, and the downed bird jerked and brought its head up, but then slumped again. The standing bird then called hoarsely, then immediately pecked the other bird even harder on the neck. This time it jerked again, then, within a second or two, both birds flew off into the woods together. I've never seen one bird help another in this way. It happened so quickly and was so surprising that I forgot to notice whether they were males or females or one of each. Marsha Kardon -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --