April 28, 1988 - Rat-a-Tat: Red-Belly at WorkApril 28, 1988/The Suffolk Times/Page 11A
RatmamTat.m Red -Belly at Work
By Paul Stoutenburgh
As I write, the red - bellied woodpecker
is at my suet feeder in the backyard and I
hope by now most of you have become
acquainted with this handsome, large
woodpecker. Although the name
suggests a red belly, you'd have to look
hard to find even the slightest tint of
red. The real red is in the scarlet crown
that sets him a peg above all our other
woodpeckers.
Before the '60s there were few records
of the red -belly making Long Island its
home, but since then they've spread
throughout the island. Now one can say
they are fairly common. They are a
noisy bird, which helps people locate
them through their loud tchur -tchur call.
In some cases, especially in the
spring, when courtship is in the air,
Focus on
Nature
they often drum on metal objects such
as road signs, television antennas,
aluminum gutters and downspouts --
anything that acts as an amplifier to
arouse and beckon a mate. It's the
woodpecker's way of using man's
modern -day equipment to announce his
presence. Only those who have
experienced these loud drummings can
appreciate their intensity. To make
matters worse, this loud crescendo often
starts at daybreak. Once heard, the red -
belly is never forgotten.
There is the lesser noise of
woodpeckers searching for grubs and
insects. It's thought they can detect
insects by sound and vibrations. Once
detected the chips literally start to fly. In
our woods recently I noticed the ground
covered with fresh, new chips. Looking
up I could see where Mr. Woodpecker
had been ripping the old, dead wood
apart to get at what was living inside.
When you think about it, it's all part of
that old theme -- recycling. Soon the
dead tree, weakened by insects and
softened by fungus, will fall, only to be
decomposed on the ground by a new
host of insects and decay. Thus, the
once - living tree becomes nutrient for
new life in the forest.
Red - Bellies Hide Nuts
Another interesting characteristic of
the red - bellied woodpecker is its habit of
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
RED - BELLIED WOODPECKER - -This handsome, large, red -
crowned woodpecker is a relative newcomer to our area. Chiefly from
the southeastern parts of the United States, this noisy woodpecker is a
welcome addition.
hiding fruits and nuts. I'd read about this
but never actually seen it until this
winter when Barbara and I observed it
right in our own front yard. The red -
belly worked itself along a limb of a
hickory tree until it came to the dried
husk and nut still clinging to the twig.
Here it maneuvered the nut free with its
bill. Then, with the large nut in its bill,
it flew off to a nearby tree. There it
jammed the nut into a broken joint of a
limb. We could see the head working
back and forth and the bill pounding it
tightly into place. It was something to
see. Then back the bird flew for another
nut.
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It seems to me almost impossible for
the bill of this woodpecker to be able to
chisel into a hickory nut. I have to use a
hammer to get them open. Yet I have
enough faith in wildlife to know that if
they couldn't get into the nut they
wouldn't collect and store them.
By now most of our other
woodpeckers, such as the downy, hairy
and flicker, have chosen a mate and are
probably selecting nesting sites and
starting to chip away their cavity nests.
Woodpeckers are early nesters. They
have the protection of the deep cavity in
the tree plus a ready supply of grubs and
insects in dead and decaying trees.
The nest cavity can be at almost any
height, sometimes as high as 60 feet. I
once found a flicker's nest just two feet
off the ground. They choose a dead tree
or one that is practically decayed because
this makes easier chipping...and how
they work. Once the hole has been
excavated they start chiseling downward,
coming up with mouthfuls of chips
which they toss out of the hole. There
is no nest building as we think of it by
most birds; rather the eggs are laid on a
layer of wood chips left on the floor.
No Place To Rest
One of the major problems all cavity
nesters are facing, particularly in our
manicured world, is that there are fewer
and fewer old trees left standing. This
can be seen most obviously along our
highways where old trees are continually
being taken down. (I'm sorry to say
they are not being replaced in many
instances.) The same applies to trees
around many of our homes. Perhaps in
some cases there is good reason for
safety's sake to' remove dead branches
and trees but I'm afraid, like our
manicured lawns, we sometimes get
carried away.
By way of contrast, when trees are left
to die and fall where they may it is hard
for most people to accept. I was with a
group visiting Robins Island some years
back when there was talk of the county
taking it over. (I still have my fingers
crossed.) After the tour of that
magnificent island I overheard one well -
dressed gentleman say, "There was
nothing on that island but a bunch of
dead trees." He evidently had never seen
a forest without man's interference.
It shows how we can become
mesmerized into thinking if it's dead
cut it down. That philosophy is all right
for the front yard, or perhaps along the
roadside where there might be possible
danger from falling .limbs, but not in
the forest. There the natural thing is to
leave it alone. The more man tries to
tidy up the more damage he
unknowingly does. Remember the dead
leaves, twigs and trees -- everything that
once grew and died in the woods -- is
eventually reduced to mulch to nourish
the forest itself.
Even the practice of letting people cut
dead trees in a woods is a two -sided
sword. On one hand we are providing an
immediate reward for those who need the
wood for fuel and on the other had we
are robbing the woods of its future
nutrient base. These are hard decisions
and I'm afraid like: so many other
judgments made today concerning the
natural world, the natural world winds
up the loser. Only an informed public
can make the difference.
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