This is more about bird behavior than rarity, so apologies if it's o/t, but I watched a swallow engage in extraordinary (to me) behavior at Croton Point Park in Westchester today. It started when I spotted something white drifting slowly towards the ground: a large, downy feather. Just as I focused on it, a Barn Swallow snatched it out of the air with its beak. I expected the bird to head off to its nest, but instead it dropped the feather...and then circled and snatched it out of the air again.
For the next few minutes, I watched the swallow repeatedly release the feather, do wide loops around it--sometimes feinting in its direction--and then pluck it out of the air. Twice it let the feather land on the grass, retrieving it once while on the wing and once by landing beside it. Finally the swallow did head off, I imagine to line its nest at last. I'd never seen swallows engage in play, but I can't see how this was anything else. Has anyone else here ever witnessed something like this? Thanks--Joe Wallace -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
