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Hermit Thrush at Cerrito Creek and Key Route/Ashbury (Albany/El Cerrito border)

Alan Kaplan <lnkpln@...>
 

Friends!

Here is another stone to the edifice of Hermit Thrush sightings this week: this was observed yesterday, Wednesday February 12, 2014.

There was a Hermit Thrush in bushes and an oak tree above Cerrito Creek on the Albany/El Cerrito border (where Key Route becomes Ashbury Avenue) on the east side of the boulevard. It vocalized the "chuck" call the entire time (about three minutes we watched it) and darted into a red-berried bush (my companion said it was not a Cotoneaster) a dozen times, grabbing only one berry each time and then perching away from the bush until the next foray.

This '"one berry" at a time was noted by Steve Bailey years ago in his dissertation work on the UC Berkeley campus: Hermit Thrush behaves like a fugitive, dashing in for a berry while a Robin, who has staked out that bush for the winter, is not paying attention. In yesterday's case, there was no Robin nearby, and the berries were easy to take, and the Hermit Thrush retreated to a very obvious perch. But the fugitive behavior is 'hard-wired" into it, and it behaved cautiously.

Best of Boids!

Alan Kaplan
lowensvi@sbcglobal.net
 

I've had a hermit thrush off and on in my backyard--southwest Berkeley--all winter. What a treat!

Lisa

From: Alan Kaplan <lnkpln@...>
To: EBB_Sightings@...
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 8:20 AM
Subject: [EBB_Sightings] Hermit Thrush at Cerrito Creek and Key Route/Ashbury (Albany/El Cerrito border)

 
Friends!

Here is another stone to the edifice of Hermit Thrush sightings this week: this was observed yesterday, Wednesday February 12, 2014.

There was a Hermit Thrush in bushes and an oak tree above Cerrito Creek on the Albany/El Cerrito border (where Key Route becomes Ashbury Avenue) on the east side of the boulevard. It vocalized the "chuck" call the entire time (about three minutes we watched it) and darted into a red-berried bush (my companion said it was not a Cotoneaster) a dozen times, grabbing only one berry each time and then perching away from the bush until the next foray.

This '"one berry" at a time was noted by Steve Bailey years ago in his dissertation work on the UC Berkeley campus: Hermit Thrush behaves like a fugitive, dashing in for a berry while a Robin, who has staked out that bush for the winter, is not paying attention. In yesterday's case, there was no Robin nearby, and the berries were easy to take, and the Hermit Thrush retreated to a very obvious perch. But the fugitive behavior is 'hard-wired" into it, and it behaved cautiously.

Best of Boids!

Alan Kaplan
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