I went back to Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins (Larimer) this afternoon and have to relate the following:
A young (mostly dark lower mandible) Olive-sided Flycatcher was working out of some bare branches of a large Thornless Honeylocust in Section 8, "sister" to the nearby champion tree of the same species. The flycatcher went out and got its normal urban fare, a yellowjacket. Back on its perch, it struggled a bit to get the wasp down. A Red-breasted Nuthatch flew up within 3 feet of the big hunter, then inched its way closer, the way young birds just out the nest do with parents that bring something in for a meal. Then something unexpected. The nuthatch flew right at the flycatcher's face, the flycatcher flinched, the wasp fell, and the little nuthatch went after it, presumably successfully. Kleptoparasitism happens all the time, but this seemed a strange combination. I suspect conspicuous, treetop hunters like kingbirds and Olive-sideds worry about kestrels and maybe corvids, but who'd guess a nuthatch weighing a third of an ounce would present an issue? Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
