<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div>Hi Jim,</div><div><br></div><div>Over here on the north Olympic Peninsula, birds seem to use Himalayan blackberry patches quite a bit, particularly during winter. Fox Sparrows especially hang out in blackberry patches, along with Golden-crowned, White-crowned, and Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, House Finches, and more. We particularly see House and Purple Finches, along with towhees, eating the berries in late summer and early fall. </div><div><br></div><div>A couple years ago, a “restoration project” removed several big clumps of blackberries along the Dungeness River, leading to a noticeable drop in winter sparrows in that area.</div><div><br></div><div>Bob Boekelheide</div><div>Dungeness</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0433ff"><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim Betz via Tweeters <<a href="mailto:tweeters@u.washington.edu">tweeters@u.washington.edu</a>><br></span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0433ff"><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>[Tweeters] Why don't we see birds on blackberries?</b><br></span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0433ff"><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 7, 2024 at 11:51:01 AM PDT<br></span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0433ff"><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">via Tweeters <<a href="mailto:tweeters@u.washington.edu">tweeters@u.washington.edu</a>><br></span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0433ff"><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reply-To: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim Betz <<a href="mailto:jimbetz@jimbetz.com">jimbetz@jimbetz.com</a>><br></span></font></div><font color="#0433ff"><br><br>Hi<br><br> Now that the blackberry season is past - I was reflecting on the fact that, to the best of my<br><br>knowledge, I've never seen a bird eating blackberries. I went to the web and looked it up<br><br>and, according to the web, birds do eat blackberries. So why haven't I seen them doing this?<br><br>In fact - my observation is that birds seem to avoid blackberry stands (as in, if there are<br><br>other bushes nearby you are much more likely to see any birds there than in the blackberries).<br><br> Are the blackberries on the East Coast different than here in the West? I even found<br><br>pictures of birds "in the blackberries" (but did not see very many of them actually feeding<br><br>on the blackberries).<br><br>- Jim</font></div></div></body></html>