Story and photos by Vern Norbury
August 3, 2000

There are four species of woodpecker that regularly come to feeders in the Cariboo. The smallest, the Downy, makes its presence known in the spring by drumming on dead branches and calling to establish his territory or to re-establish his claim. Downys are easily attracted to feeder sites by suet, fat, or bird pudding. Since they are very small they are never dominant and must give way to their larger relatives.

I have had one major experience with this bird. One winter morning I saw a Downy on the ground, apparently unable to fly. I went out and picked it up but could find nothing obviously wrong. So I took it inside and put it in a makeshift cage with a supply of food and water. It immediately began to try and peck its way out, the resultant hammering nearly driving us to distraction. I solved that by covering the cage with a large cloth. He was a feisty little character. A finger placed in any opening of the cage received an immediate peck from the small beak. He fed well and, since I could find nothing wrong with him, I took him out and released him the morning of the second day. He flew without hesitation and I thought he was recovered from whatever had ailed him.

Two days later I looked out and discovered him back on the ground, trying to climb a snow bank to get to a tree. So we had a repeat of the previous events. The next morning I released him. Again he flew with no problems. Although I kept watch for a repeat performance it did not occur so he either recovered or died somewhere beyond my sight.

The Hairy Woodpecker is much larger version of the Downy with the exception of the beak, which is much larger in relation to the overall size of the bird. They are also much more aggressive in their dealing with their own and other species. One female that was a regular visitor would drive Steller's Jays from the feeder log.

When it comes to competing for mates and territories each sex is strictly on it's own. That is, if a new female moves into an area and attempts to take it and the resident male over the resident female receives no help from her mate. However the established bird usually wins the confrontation although there may be some very spirited chases before all is settled. Once nesting begins that changes and both members of a pair protect the territory. Both parents raise the brood, the male taking food for his mate and to feed the nestlings when they hatch. One of the delights of providing food for them at the feeder site is watching the father bring his offspring to the log and feed them and demonstrate how to feed themselves.

The Northern Flicker has been staying over the winter in recent years.

Whether this is because of milder winters of the availability of food at feeders or a combination of both I don't know. Their normal diet is ants and, since these are not available in winter the Flicker usually leaves for warmer climates for the winter. I have never known these beautiful birds to bring their young to the feeders.

The largest of our woodpeckers is the Pileated. With it's bright red crest and large white wing patches visible in flight, it's loud calls and drumming it is a spectacular bird. Often the first sign of its presence will be large, rectangular holes excavated in the lower trunk of a tree. Investigation will show that the particular tree is infested with large wood ants although there may be no external evidence of this. The Pileated's hearing is very acute and it can discover the ants long before they become known to us. One particular female Pileated became well known to us. When on the feeder log she was very dainty in her feeding habits so we named her Lady. She was given to spectacular entrances, approaching at a great height with loud cackling to let everyone know of her imminent arrival, then swooping down with much flashing of her white wing patches, to land on the log.

One day when she did this, a male Downy was feeding on the log. Her flamboyant arrival frightened him and he flew into the window. Stunned, he managed to fly to one of two trees, which grew close together at the edge of the feeder site and clung to it without moving

To my surprise, Lady flew to the other tree, landing at the same height as the Downy. She then leaned over and looked at him and gave every indication of concern for him. She made no attempt to peck him or threaten him in any way. After several minutes she flew back to the log and the Downy recovered and left. It is the only time I have known a bird to show concern for a member of another species.

Lady, however, was unique in my experience with birds as she showed us a few days later. I had just been out and distributed the days rations but had not yet brought in the log, which was quite empty when she announced her arrival in her usual fashion.

Landing on the log and finding it empty she proceeded to thrust her beak into every hole and looking over to where we watched from the window. Then she flew to the tray feeder just below the window, which was full of sunflower seeds. Sweeping her great beak back and forth she scattered seeds everywhere. Her meaning was clear. "I can't eat these things!' Then she hopped up on the windowsill and stared in at me, only inches away. After a few minutes she flew back to the log and repeated the whole performance. After another long look at me from close quarters she flew away.

"Well," said my wife who had witnessed the whole interaction, "She didn't look at me. She knows who is supposed to keep the log filled." So, faced with the accusatory stares of two females I dutifully brought the log in and filled it.

There was absolutely no doubt as to Lady's message. She communicated her disapproval of the empty log very clearly to me in terms I could not fail to understand. In fact I began to think of the term "bird brain" in a somewhat different light.