Altruism -- Arapahoe County

[Mary Kay Waddington]

The other day I was enjoying watching a mixed flock of birds, hoping for a warbler or 2 to pop up when I noticed that there was a Bushtit hanging by its tail -- caught on some sort of twig, it was totally helpless, flapping a little, head pointed to the ground.  The interesting thing was that one by one, all the other Bushtits in the flock tried to free it, going over to the spot where it was caught and pulling on the twig and feather.  Since there is probably no other bird species that's more communal than a Bushtit, this seemed not too surprising.  However, they weren't having any luck.  Finally a Chickadee went to the spot with a look that plainly said, "Come on you guys, it's a simple matter!"  (Sorry for anthropomorphizing but that's how it appeared.)  Now anyone who has ever banded birds knows that a Chickadee's bill is one of the most formidable and accurate of sharp objects imaginable!  Sure enough -- in a second the Bushtit was released!

Mary Kay Waddington

[Charles Hundertmark]

Fascinating behavior. This reminded me of a scenario I watched many years ago while working on Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas II. I was just finishing surveying the yard and buildings of a farmstead near Yuma when I heard a cacophony of calls from a large elm. When I looked for the source of the commotion, I saw a fledging Common Grackle hanging upside down dangling from a piece of twine below one of the branches. Other grackles were perched at various levels around the distressed bird and all of them were looking at the fledgling and calling. The hanging grackle was struggling, flapping its wings and making efforts to flip up. This scenario continued for several minutes as I tried to figure out how I could rescue the bird which was well up in the tree. As I was about to give up on the rescue, the distressed bird made a final flutter and broke free.

Chuck Hundertmark

Lafayette, CO

On Sep 10, 2020, at 6:15 AM, Mary Kay Waddington <waddin...@gmail.com> wrote:

The other day I was enjoying watching a mixed flock of birds, hoping for a warbler or 2 to pop up when I noticed that there was a Bushtit hanging by its tail -- caught on some sort of twig, it was totally helpless, flapping a little, head pointed to the ground.  The interesting thing was that one by one, all the other Bushtits in the flock tried to free it, going over to the spot where it was caught and pulling on the twig and feather.  Since there is probably no other bird species that's more communal than a Bushtit, this seemed not too surprising.  However, they weren't having any luck.  Finally a Chickadee went to the spot with a look that plainly said, "Come on you guys, it's a simple matter!"  (Sorry for anthropomorphizing but that's how it appeared.)  Now anyone who has ever banded birds knows that a Chickadee's bill is one of the most formidable and accurate of sharp objects imaginable!  Sure enough -- in a second the Bushtit was released!

Mary Kay Waddington

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