Re: interesting bird behavior

[Mark Stackhouse <westwings at sisna dot com>]

Starlings are among the best mimics in the bird world. The number of 
different bird songs that they imitate is truly amazing - it's really 
aggravating in the field when you think you've heard a rare bird call, 
and find that it's only a starling. Of course, their repertoire 
includes things other than birds, including human voices. It's rare, 
but starlings can learn to "talk;" after all, the mynas, which are 
famous talkers, are in the same family.

The second thing you witnessed is called courtship feeding. It's pretty 
common in finches and sparrows. As part of the courtship ritual, the 
female begs for food from the male just as a fledgling would - complete 
with the wing-fluttering and gaping that you saw. Perhaps the female is 
testing how well the male can provide for the brood.

Or perhaps she just wants to be taken out to dinner before going any 
further . . .

Good birding!

Mark Stackhouse
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)

On May 23, 2005, at 7:56 PM, Linda S Butler wrote:

> I've recently observed some interesting and intriguing bird behavior.
> First: Last week a friend and I were potting up some plants in her back
> yard. We heard a distinct "meow" and looked around but couldn't see a
> cat. Then we heard a variety of chirps, cackles, and other bird
> sounds--it sounded like an escaped parrot. Then we heard a raspy little
> voice say "don't cross, don't cross." At this point we looked up and, 
> on
> the fence, was a starling that had been making all these sounds and 
> even
> talking. What's even more interesting is that this friend lives three
> houses away from an elementary school crosswalk, complete with crossing
> guards, who are likely telling the children "cross" or "don't cross." 
> Has
> anyone ever hear a starling talk?
> Second: This afternoon about 4 p.m. I watched two sparrows, possibly
> chipping sparrows (I'm terrible at ID.) on my lawn beneath the feeders.
> The more colorful of the pair was feeding seeds to the other one, which
> was similar in size, though drab in color. The "feedee" would open its
> beak wide and chirp, expecting food. I thought it was a fledgling, 
> though
> the two birds were similar in size. Looking at the Golden Field Guide 
> to
> Birds, I think it was a male/female pair. When the birds were startled,
> both flew with equal agility onto (or over, I couldn't see from my
> window) my roof. So I'm now tempted to rule out that the bird being fed
> was a fledgling. Any thoughts on this behavior?
>
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