MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 21, 2023
A male bird needs to arrive as soon as possible to stake out a good territory. Arriving early is a way to guarantee one of the limited nesting territories. But the downside is that there may be insufficient food to allow an eager male to survive long enough to mate. So, males need to find an arrival time that is just right, balancing the competing pressure of having enough food and securing a territory. ~ Herb Wilson