Date: 5/6/26 2:14 pm From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Agonistic behavior in purple finches
Thanks, Allan! It’s always good to get a new word.
Maeve
> On May 6, 2026, at 11:54 AM, Allan Strong <Allan.Strong...> wrote:
>
> Hi Maeve,
>
> Try "agonistic behavior birds"
>
> Allan
>
> ________________________________
> From: Vermont Birds <VTBIRD...> on behalf of Maeve Kim <maevekim7...>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2026 11:47 AM
> To: <VTBIRD...> <VTBIRD...>
> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Agonistic behavior in purple finches
>
> I have to ask, Google having failed me. I can find a definition of agonistic in pharmacology, and examples of agonistic vs. antagonistic in pharmacology, but nothing about the word agonistic in other contexts. Is it used as a synonym for antagonistic?
> Maeve Kim, baffled in Jericho
>
>> On May 6, 2026, at 8:08 AM, Michael Haas <ihateokra88...> wrote:
>>
>> Yesterday, while seated on the deck of my cabin at the border of meadow and
>> woodland, I observed two female purple finches displaying agonistic
>> behavior. They faced off among the low branches of red maples just above a
>> feeder that was situated below. Both had visited the feeder, separately,
>> prior to their interaction, but then, over the course of 10 to 15 minutes,
>> they confronted one another on the branches above. Each displayed
>> agonistic postures well-described in Cornell's "Birds of the World."
>> Intermittently, one assumed a head high, pecking down posture, her opponent
>> took a squatting stance, tail splayed, head facing up, beak gaping. The
>> skirmish, as I said, went on for a while, as they flitted among the
>> branches. Occasionally a third female entered the fray. It is interesting
>> to me that only females were involved; no male was in sight. I
>> surmise they were competing for a nesting site or access to the feeder.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Michael R. Haas, VMD, MS
>> 1286 Hazen Notch Rd
>> Lowell, VT 05847
>> <ihateokra88...>
>> Talking In My Sleep <https://sleeptalkingguy.blogspot.com/> >>
>> “I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t
>> know.”
>> ― *Mark Twain*
>>
>>
>> "Hydrogen is an odorless, colorless gas that, given enough time, becomes
>> people."
>>
>> -- *Edward R. Harrison*
