1985 Walter Koenig Melanerpes fornicivorus Blothrme HNHR !April! After an unsuccessful ambush here last night (the birds roosted elsewhere, somewhere), I came here ~1015 and set up a net in the granary. With a stuffed male perched indelicate ly in the tree and a tape of the a power struggle, the birds were here immediately. In fact, the tape apparently drew 2±3 intruders as well! The residents were 4: ♂768, ♀945, ♂69[5194], and an ♂6 ♂ (!) This was a dilemma. The ♂6 ♂ was quite in the thick of things and eventually got himself caught in the net and was banded as #988. He was possibly a juvenile: he had 2 small tailspots on one outer rectrix, he was molting a bit of his crown & some body feathers, his primaries were sort of blunt at best, his wing was shortish, and his wings were in pretty good shape-not too worn. Thus, of the likely scenarios, the most probable would seem to be that we missed a fall nest here and that he is a helper from it. Alternatives exist, but it seems unlikely that he would just join a group with an established ♂. Unfortunately, ♂769 is apparently gone; thus, this group would no longer appear to be a good candidate for a temporary ♂ removal. The tape eventually ran down and no one else was coming too close to the net, so we left ~130D. 8 April 1130. ♂ in hole. 1430. Back to check hole. Nothing yet. 21 April *Group Update* 8769. Last seen 1 Feb., gone by 1 April->DA 85±1mo. Another fall nest (1984) apparently