The other day at Upper Buttermilk I came across two RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLETS behaving in a way I have never observed before. Previously,
whenever I have seen the red crown on these little birds is when they
merely spread the feathers on their head to expose their beautiful
crimson. Not so this time! When these two birds came into very close
proximity to each other, they didn't merely "show" the red, they angrily
flared the red feathers to a fully erect position. Indeed, it appeared
as though the feathers were bent forward out over their foreheads!!
When this occurred, one of the birds gave out with a frighteningly
rapid, almost hissing-like trill. To make this even more fascinating
was the behavior of the "trespassing" bird. This interaction between
the two only lasted very briefly, before this bird would retreat to
bushes across the trail and proceed to feed nonchalantly, almost as
though this "violent" conflict had never happened. After a short time,
it would fly back to where the other bird was, only to be angrily
reproached again. It did this three times, before apparently deciding
that discretion was the better part of valor.
Bird behavior is every bit as fascinating as their appearance and song!
Larry
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W. Larry Hymes
120 Vine Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
(H) 607-277-0759, w...@cornell.edu
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