[va-richmond-general] Morning amusements

  This morning I witness a battle of wits between my (sans red fanny) catbird 
(no, I'm not the least bit proprietary, am I) and a female cardinal.  
  The cardinal got onto the hanging tripod to have some sunflower and safflower 
seeds; the catbird was trying to defend all 4 of the hanging feeders at once.  
There are actually two catbirds living around here now, so they might actually 
be a pair since they don't fight each other and sometimes cooperate.

  Anyway, the female cardinal at first ignored the warning "zeeeEEEEEE"s coming 
from the catbird, and kept eating.  Then the catbird hopped its way across the 
feeders to get to where the cardinal was, and hopped onto the rim, opening 
wings, beak and generally looking provacative.  The female cardinal held her 
ground and went into defense mode herself by hunching down a bit, flattening 
her crest down, and showing off her open beak, ready to peck as well.

  A standoff ensued.  Then they pecked each other and retreated to their 
respective spot on the rim of the feeder.  More pecking and warning squawks.  
This went on for a few minutes, and when the cardinal made it clear she would 
not leave, guess what?  The catbird flew off!  I was a bit amazed, and I have 
to say, proud of the cardinal for her bravery.

  Irene in Southside

  P.S.  Though I must say...having been out to observe banding with Bob's crew, 
I've seen how female cardinals and fight, sqwuak and peck the banders, so I 
knew they had it in them!

You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject 
field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visit, 
http://www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.

Other related posts: