Cool observation of the White-crowned Sparrows. Below is the BNA excerpt describing something similar. Since these birds aren't on their breeding grounds, this must be practice? Maybe the two males you saw are actually good buddies travelling together and its kind of like a sparring match at the gym...
Agonistic Behavior Territorial male flies toward conspecific intruder, erects crown feathers, puffs chest, and sings loudly. Aggressor may then adopt a threatening posture, sleeking its body feathers, orienting its body to the horizontal, and pointing its open bill toward the intruder. This may be accompanied by a Wing-flutter Display in which male crouches, lowers and flutters its wings, and raises its head and tail slightly (Moore 1984 <http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/183/articles/species/183/biblio/bib107> , Baptista 1989 <http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/183/articles/species/183/biblio/bib017>), reminiscent of female’s Copulation-solicitation Display. Fighting is most common early in territory establishment. Birds in a territorial dispute fly at each other with feet pointed toward opponent. In prolonged combat, they fall to the ground, grappling with their feet (Baptista 1989 <http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/183/articles/species/183/biblio/bib017> ). Thanks for sharing, Marc Marc Devokaitis Public Information Specialist Cornell Lab of Ornithology On Tue, May 10, 2016 at 10:12 AM, Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes < c...@cornell.edu> wrote: > This morning, it was significantly colder than yesterday morning at the > same time. Fewer birds in general (except for White-throated Sparrows) and > fewer warbler species. A single Blue-winged Warbler was singing incessantly > from near the middle of the Hawthorn Orchard throughout much of my time > there. > > Highlight was the huge flock of about 62 White-throated Sparrows which are > frequenting the hedgerow near the softball field. I got a fairly accurate > count of that flock as they passed me from the East to the West along the > hedgerow. They were headed to the grassy field beyond the softball field to > feed on dandelion seeds. There was at least one White-crowned Sparrow here > as well. > > On my way back to the truck, I encountered another three White-crowned > Sparrows – two apparent males and an apparent female. They were just inside > the fencing on the green of the outside tennis courts. The two males were > in an apparent singing and displaying duel – something I’ve never observed > before. The two males took turns singing. As one male sang upright, the > other male would crouch down with back in horizontal and bill down with cap > pointed at the singing male, subtly jerking its head back and forth and > gently hopping side to side. Then, they would switch, with the previously > singing male now taking a horizontal pose with bright black-and-white > striped cap facing the now upright and singing opponent. They repeated this > for at least a couple of minutes, each bird singing one song before getting > into the horizontal pose again; this all happening while the non-vocal, > apparent female, was hopping around nearby, watching from the sidelines. > This was almost rapid-fire, like a tennis ball being hit back-and-forth > across the net during a match. > > I think we need a few good days of warm weather to bring out the hawthorn > flowers… > > Good birding! > > Sincerely, > Chris T-H > > > Hawthorn Orchard > May 10, 2016 > 06:30 > Traveling > 1.00 miles > 149 Minutes > All birds reported? Yes > Comments: Cold start to the morning. ~ 30° > Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.2.0 Build 62 > > 9 Canada Goose > 1 Great Blue Heron > 2 Killdeer > 2 Ring-billed Gull > 3 Mourning Dove > 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker > 2 Downy Woodpecker > 1 Hairy Woodpecker > 2 Least Flycatcher > 1 Eastern Phoebe > 23 Blue Jay > 2 American Crow > 11 Tree Swallow > 1 Barn Swallow > 7 Black-capped Chickadee > 2 Tufted Titmouse > 1 White-breasted Nuthatch > 2 House Wren > 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet > 3 Wood Thrush > 14 American Robin > 12 Gray Catbird > 1 Brown Thrasher > 8 European Starling > 2 Cedar Waxwing > 1 Ovenbird > 2 Blue-winged Warbler > 1 Black-and-white Warbler > 9 Nashville Warbler > 2 Common Yellowthroat > 2 American Redstart > 4 Magnolia Warbler > 1 Yellow Warbler > 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler > 6 Yellow-rumped Warbler > 1 Chipping Sparrow > 4 White-crowned Sparrow > 78 White-throated Sparrow > 3 Song Sparrow > 1 Scarlet Tanager > 11 Northern Cardinal > 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak > 8 Red-winged Blackbird > 1 Eastern Meadowlark > 6 Common Grackle > 5 Brown-headed Cowbird > 4 Baltimore Oriole > 1 Purple Finch > 1 Pine Siskin > 10 American Goldfinch > > Number of Taxa: 50 > > -- > Christopher T. 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