About a dozen winters ago, when we had heavy accumulation of snow, I observed three American Crows ski down from the top of a 20ft Blue Spruce, fly back up and ski down. But the most unusual observation of playful or insane behavior was of a female Baltimore Oriole's on the Hummingbird feeder. I had a Hummingbird feeder since 1987, never had I seen an oriole on it. This year in May I have seen a Male and Female Baltimore oriole use the feeder 90% of the time to 10% for the hummingbird. But the strange behavior was, when the female would take a few sips, would fly away to the same spot 5ft away on the gutter and return immediately to the feeder. This would be repeated ten times within a minute or two. Playful or intoxicated?? Orhan Birol Shelter Island
On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 6:18 AM Bruce Horwith <bruce.horw...@gmail.com> wrote: > And Carl Safina's Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel explores this > dimension for the wider animal kingdom. > > *Bruce Horwith* > *16 Salt Marsh Path* > *East Hampton, NY 11937* > *(631) 599-0040 cell phone* > > > On Mon, Jun 7, 2021 at 10:01 PM Deborah Shapiro <dsni...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> We underestimate the mental capacity of birds. While I don’t recall that >> she discusses playful behavior, Jennifer Ackerman’s book The Genius of >> Birds gives many examples of bird cognition that are fascinated and >> unexpected. >> >> Great discussion. >> >> Deborah >> >> On Jun 7, 2021, at 9:46 PM, Joseph Wallace <joew...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> Thanks, everyone for the ongoing conversation. This is all so >> fascinating. Corvids and parrots have been known as game-players (and >> tricksters) for a long time, and it doesn't surprise me that gulls, already >> adept at a creative kind of tool-using (stationery rocks to drop clams on), >> might also turn objects into toys. But swallows did surprise me...and made >> me wonder what other species/families might engage in play. Warblers? >> Gnatcatchers? It's hard for me to visualize, but that doesn't mean it can't >> happen. >> >> Thanks again for making such thoughts possible--Joe >> -- >> *NYSbirds-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> >> ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> >> *Please submit your observations to **eBird* >> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* >> -- >> >> -- >> *NYSbirds-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> >> ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> >> *Please submit your observations to **eBird* >> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* >> -- >> > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > -- 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/ --
