Yesterday, in the midst of a flurry of activity at the feeder, with visits
from a large flock of goldfinches, several male indigo buntings,
rose-breasted grosbeaks, Baltimore orioles, and several woodpeckers, I
observed a new behavior in a white-breasted nuthatch. The nuthatch was at
the tube
I've seen White-Breasted Nuthatches do the same sort of thing at a platform
feeder of mine (throughout the year, not just spring), a very dramatic
wingspread that I always took to be a threat display, as it seems to do it
when others come near the seed the nuthatch is eating from. I've always
] interesting WB nuthatch behavior
Yesterday, in the midst of a flurry of activity at the feeder, with visits from
a large flock of goldfinches, several male indigo buntings, rose-breasted
grosbeaks, Baltimore orioles, and several woodpeckers, I observed a new
behavior in a white-breasted nuthatch
-L; NATURAL-HISTORY-L
Subject: RE: [cayugabirds-l] interesting WB nuthatch behavior
I've seen this happening when a nuthatch is approached too closely by another
species of bird at a feeder, so a kind of interspecific aggressive display.
They also do it as a distraction display, when their nest
