<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp469c7623yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Dear David and Tweeters,</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">That sounds like a fun writing project. I have a bit of information about birds using utility poles, gleaned from my database.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Funny, I just found out how many places I have birded, where the name of the place has the word "pole" in it! I had to filter those out--I'd forgotten how many birds I had seen at Radipole Lake in England, for example!</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Okay, here is what I have gleaned.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">There are 39 species of birds that I have noted on utility poles; there must be dozens more that I have seen on them, but not bothered to write anything down about "poles" in my notes.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Most of the 39 are species which I have simply noted as having seen perching on a pole. Here is a list of those species.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Rock Pigeon; Eurasian Collared Dove; Thayer's (now Iceland) Gull; Glaucous-winged Gull; Turkey Vulture; Northern Harrier; Cooper's Hawk; Bald Eagle; Red-tailed hawk (also seen eating prey on poles); Rough-legged Hawk; Ferruginous Hawk; Great Horned Owl; Snowy Owl; Lewis's Woodpecker; Gila Woodpecker; Hairy Woodpecker; Pileated Woodpecker; American Kestrel; Merlin; Gyrfalcon; Peregrine Falcon; Prairie Falcon; Western Wood Pewee; California Scrub Jay; American Crow; Brown-necked Raven; Red-breasted Nuthatch; Western Meadowlark (singing from a pole); Red-winged Blackbird; Brewer's Blackbird (singing from a pole).</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">There are a few species of birds that I have observed nesting on utility poles. Here is the list of those species.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">White Stork; Osprey; Yucatan Woodpecker; Western Kingbird; Scissor-tailed Flycatcher; Tree Swallow; European Starling (also singing from poles).</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">I have also observed Northern Flickers and Red-breasted Sapsuckers drumming on poles.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">As to mammals, I will add that I have a hypothesis about Eastern Grey Squirrels, in regard to poles. About 15 or 20 years ago, to my horror, I learned that a well-intentioned Skagit County resident was trapping "cute little Eastern Grey Squirrels" at her feeder, and then taking them "to places where they will be out of harm's way." Thus a single misguided person succeeded in spreading a nuisance species all over Skagit County. In the years that followed, I saw the same thing again and again: Eastern Grey Squirrels running eastwards along power lines and telephone lines, slowly making their way upriver. I can't remember exactly how far east I have seen them, but they have made it as far up as Rockport. I think that the squirrels climb up the poles, then use the wires as their highways! It must require far less energy to run along a straight wire, then to jump from limb to limb, branch to branch, twig to twig.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Yours truly,</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Gary Bletsch</div><div><br></div>
</div><div id="ydp177c7838yahoo_quoted_8264391113" class="ydp177c7838yahoo_quoted">
<div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;">
<div>
On Monday, March 21, 2022, 04:25:24 PM PDT, David B. Williams <wingate@seanet.com> wrote:
</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><div dir="ltr">Greetings all. I am hoping to write a bit about the natural history of<br></div><div dir="ltr">utility poles, such as nest builders, hole drillers, and perchers. This<br></div><div dir="ltr">was prompted by the replacement of the utility pole across the street,<br></div><div dir="ltr">which had suffered from flicker damage.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I was wondering if anyone had any observations or thoughts on the natural<br></div><div dir="ltr">history of utility poles. Any thoughts would be appreciated.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Sincerely,<br></div><div dir="ltr">David Williams<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">_______________________________________________<br></div><div dir="ltr">Tweeters mailing list<br></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="mailto:Tweeters@u.washington.edu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tweeters@u.washington.edu</a><br></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters</a><br></div></div>
</div>
</div></body></html>