Woodpeckers

Our home seems to have turned into a haven for woodpeckers. I saw a flicker flying through last week. We have had both downy's and hairy's on our suet on the porch. And yesterday I saw a pileated woodpecker out my window. I tried to get a photo but he kept going around the tree. The photo here is from the USGS. They are very large birds and very interesting. They make oblong holes in trees instead of the round ones other woodpeckers make.

Woodpeckers peck for 3 reasons. First of all they peck for food. They don't peck healthy wood - only wood that is dead or dying and has bugs in it - they eat the bugs. They make their homes in the same kind of wood - why make a home where there isn't any food? The third reason they peck is called "drumming". In the spring the males have to show off their ability to peck to the females. This is an important characteristic because it tells the female that they can make a home and find food. They like to drum on things that make a lot of noise. Every spring a hairy woodpecker uses our metal woodstove chimney. Drumming causes lots of noise but little or no damage. I'm glad I learned the term drumming because once, when teaching high school, I told the students that the males were making all that noise to show off their _____ (you get the picture). It came out completely wrong and caused a lot of laughter. Now I am careful not to say it that way.

Basically, If you have woodpeckers pecking on your house regularly you better have it checked for termites or carpenter ants!

Woodpeckers don't migrate so, if you live in a cold climate and you put out suet you will likely have woodpeckers visit you.