April 15, 1962 - Woodpeckers
Woodpeckers
Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven
Focus on Nature
This morning I rose rather
early and took a short
walk through the woods to get
some of the spring fever that is
all about us. Everywhere there
were signs of spring. The red-
wings were busy staking out their
territories and "strutting t h e i r
stuff" while the robins were
letting everyone know, this is a
robin's world.
But above all the encouraging
sounds and smells of spring, the
familiar tat - tatting of the downy
woodpecker seemed to catch my
imagination the most. He was
busy trying out each old limb
and branch for the best sound;
like the professional drummer of
some great orchestra tuning his
kettle drum for the best
resonance.
Ri*AW of Courtship
by Pciu) Stoutenburgh
the sapsucker, a distant relative.
Seems this member of the wood-
pecker clan has the not-too-
pleasant habit of circling a tree
with a series of tap holes from
which he collects sap. Other than
this, or an occasional hole in a
telephone pole that a flicker
might have hollowed out for his
home, the woodpecker f a m i l y
r a n k s high on the list of do-
gooders.
Every tree in our woods, I'm
sure, has at one time or another
had the close scurtiny of either
downy or his close relative, the
hairy woodpecker. From u n d e r
the bark, they will get the eggs
and larvae of our most destruc-
tive insects and should a wood
borer be close at hand they will
practically rip a dead limb
apart to find him. They are well
equipped for this job for Nature
has provided them with an ex-
Now, like everything e l s e ceptionally fine weapon in t he
caught with this spring fever, the form of a long, pointed tongue.
downy woodpecker will start his This tongue, with its series of
ritual of courtship. He offsets his barbs that are much like a fish
disadvantage of not being at all hook, sink deeply into the borer
musical in song, by achieving or worm so that it can pull it
recognition from his mate w i t h our for the noon day snack.
continuous loud pounding and an Tail Prop
unmusical pick - pick - picking call Not only does the woodpecker
in view of her. This ritual can have a specialized e a t i n g
include anything from elegant mechanism but he is also further
wing spreading, that displays his equipped for expedient maneuver-
handsome black and white coat, ability. Most normal birds have
to playing hide and seek from four toes, three pointing ahead
tree to tree or even erratic head and one behind. The woodpeckers
swinging. In general, a turmoil alter this system so they can hold
of wild excitement. on better to the side of a tree.
However, once she consents to They have two toes ahead and.
be his mate, the house construc- two behind plus a specially de-
tion begins at once. Usually this signed tail that acts as a prop or
means hewing out a cavity 8 - 10 third leg against the tree. Notice
inches deep in some not - too -hard this unique feature the next time
decaying tree. Why he does. not you see a woodpecker busy chip -
get a headache from that con-
tinual pounding, I don't k n o w.
Perhaps it is because the skull
of the woodpecker is built extra
heavy to help absorb the con-
tinual shocks.
Bare Woody Nest
Many times you can tell the
building sites by the telltale chips
of wood that fall to the ground
and show us there is work going
on above. Once hollowed o u t,
nothing is added to the nest and
the 3, to 4 pure white eggs, so
characteristic of all woodpeckers,
are laid in the bare woody nest.
Woodpeckers are just about the
most useful birds we have, al-
though there are occasions when
orchard growers sound off some
pretty disparaging remarks about
Dennis Puleston reports:
Brookhaven —April 6
House Finch —nest w/6 eggs
Brookhaven —April 8
Double -crested Cormarants (4)
Short -eared Owl
Rough - legged Hawk
Spring Azure Butterflies
Brookbaven —April 9
Blue- winged Taal (2)
Ruffed Grouse (2)
Trailing Arbutus in bloom
Please send all comments and
observations to Paul Stoutenbur'gb*
RD No. 1, Box 105, Say Avenge.
Cutchogue, N. Y.
ping away in an old tree or when
he comes to visit your suet.
It is at times like this when
you want a special viewing of
him that we learn about his
ability to play hide and seek. This
system of hiding on the other
side of the tree is another way
that birds and animals protect
themselves from their enemies.
Haven't you ever come upon a
squirrel unexpectedly, only to
have him take off up the tree
and seemingly disappear before
your eyes? The same is true of
the woodpecker, although proba-
bly to a lesser extent, for many
of these have become civilized
at our feeders and have 1 o s t
some of their fear of man.
While the hairy woodpecker
never seems to become as friend-
ly a visitor as the downy, these
two similar species should not be
confused. It is true they are both
black and white checkered and
spotted birds, and the male has
a red spot on the back of his
head, while the female as is
customary goes without. However,
usually hairy is a larger bird
but this size comparison can be
very misleading and should not
be used solely for identification.
A more positive check would be
the larger bill of hairy compared
to the short "bark sticker" of
downy.
Whether you have the friendly
downy at your station or t h e
larger hairy in the nearby woods,
they are both welcome visitors
to our ever - changing panorama of
Nature. It's like the old saying
goes, "it's the little ' things that
count." And it is "these little
things" that make the o u t s i d e
world so attractive to most of us.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS
L. R. Ernest reports'
Shinnecock Bay —April
Seal
Mecox- -April 3
Blue - winged Teal (6)
Green - winged Teal (7)
Georgica Pond —April
Lesser Yellow —legs