David and Gloria Patterson wrote: Several times the Sharpie flew up against the foliage, and the small birds moved into other parts. Finally a bunch of Cardinals and White-throats fled, and the Sharpie took off after one of the Cardinals into the nearby woods. Sharpie and Cardinal disappeared into a gully. Hey David and Gloria, That reminds me of a game we sometimes use at camp called Quick Frozen Critters, where most of the players are rabbits, and a couple are foxes. The foxes can only catch a rabbit if the rabbit is moving. If the rabbit is frozen, the fox can't touch it, but the fox can do anything else to try to spook the rabbit into moving. It is called 'reaching the threshold of threat'. The next time I use this game in my work with schoolkids, may I use a copy of your posting to emphasize the reality of the phenomenon? Another instance of accipter behavior I have seen is a Cooper's Hawk missing a strike on the ground when the prey ran under a dense shrub. The hawk hit the ground running and followed the bird right into the shrub. To me, such behavior makes them seem more like small feathered dinosaurs! Don Holt Johnson City, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================