[birdky] Brown Thrashers and Mockingbirds

From: Jim Seelhorst <jaseelhorst@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:02:48 -0400
Today on my lunch break I went to a local park near my place of work in Oldham 
County, Ky.  I watched a pair of brown thrashers going in and out of a bush 
feverishly carrying in nesting material and building a nest.  If they dropped a 
piece, they would retrieve it from the ground and place it again (which 
happened often since many of the pieces were longer than the thrashers).
 
Suddenly, a mockingbird showed up atop a sign a few feet away and flagged its 
wings.  It appeared agitated.  A second mockingbird arrived atop another nearby 
sign and then quickly entered the bush, heading straight for the nest and one 
of the thrashers.
 
The thrasher flew from the bush into a nearby tree.  The pursuing mockingbird 
landed on still another nearby sign.  The first mockingbird also flew into the 
tree.  At that time the thrasher flew at the mockingbird on the sign, which 
quickly departed; while the thrasher's mate appeared out of the blue and chased 
the mockingbird in the tree away.
 
During the time I was there, the mockingbirds made no further attempts to 
harass the thrashers, which continued their feverish nest building.
 
I knew mockingbirds didn't get along with catbirds, but hadn't known them to be 
rivals with brown tharshers.
 
Jim Seelhorst
St. Matthews, Ky                                          
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[birdky] Brown Thrashers and Mockingbirds

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