Woodpeckers in Spring

I often take my seed feeders down during the spring and summer months, primarily because a break disperses finch species and helps prevent the spread of finch disease, but also because I have limited space for both storage and feeding.   My focus generally turns to hummingbirds as they arrive in mid-April.

Hummer and Downy                           Watercolor by Vickie Henderson

This year, I took down the seed feeders but left up suet and nut feeders for woodpeckers and other nut-loving birds, and I have been generously rewarded with many fun observations. I noticed yesterday that my neighborhood downies are still coming to the hummingbird nectar to drink!

Male Downy Woodpecker feeding juvenile             Photo credit:  Vickie Henderson

Downy Woodpeckers are now being followed to the feeder by fluffy young and I am hoping that the Red-bellied pair and the Hairy Woodpecker pair will soon be showing up with their young tagging along, too.  Wouldn't that be a treat--to see a Hairy juvenile!  

Male Downy, above, with juvenile below.          Photo credit: Vickie Henderson

I have had Hairy Woodpeckers come to the winter feeders in the past, but have never spotted them in the breeding season until now. Like our other backyard woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers don't migrate but stay near their territories throughout the year. Until now, it was unknown to me if the male Hairy I was seeing actually had a mate and was nesting in the area. Two days ago, I spotted a female at the feeder!

In the image below, you can see the enormous size of the Hairy's bill, approximately the same length as the width of his head.  He also has the distinctive comma mark that extends to his breast and no lateral stripes on his tail.  To recognize him, you also have to keep in mind his size--closer to the red-belly's size than the size of a downy.

Hairy Woodpecker                                   Photo credit:  Vickie Henderson

Even though the frequency of my blog posts has slowed recently, I will certainly post a picture of a Hairy juvenile if I am fortunate enough to see one!

My time and energy is currently concentrated on my book project which has a nearing deadline.  The book is focused on birds, of course!  My observations of birds, bits of life history for each highlighted species, and stories and history about each bird from the pioneer ornithologists that first discovered and recorded bird species in Tennessee are all included in the book. The Tennessee Ornithological Society, the care-taker and creator of Tennessee's bird history, is celebrating 100 years of bird study and enjoyment this year, making it the oldest conservation organization in Tennessee.

The book will be printed in full-color so I can generously illustrate it with my own watercolors along with many historic illustrations and photographs.

Hairy Woodpecker                                   Photo credit:  Vickie Henderson

If you haven't already subscribed to this blog, you will find the email subscription form at the top of the right-hand sidebar.  Once done, the next blog post will be delivered to you by email.  This is a great way to be alerted to a new blog post and to keep up-to-date on the book's progress!

Detail, Northern Ficker in Snow, watercolor in progress by Vickie Henderson

Links and Resources:

Sketch Book--Red-shouldered Hawk Territory
Discover Birds Activity Book
Discover Birds Blog
Watercolors of Birds
Detail of "Hummer and Downy"

The Magic Gazebo and a Pair of Northern Flickers

The gazebo, located just a few yards from my door, has some magic.  It's an octagonal screened-in structure on stilts that adjoins the deck leading into the upper level of the house.  Lots of birds are attracted to the shelf that's created by the boards just under the roof, a shelf that is also sheltered by the roof's overhang.  This is where a pair of eastern phoebes nested twice last breeding season.  And recently I've watched eastern bluebirds, titmice, phoebes, goldfinch and a pair of northern flickers disappear into the shadows of the overhang.  

Today it was bitter cold, not the actual temperature which held at around 30 degrees F, but because of the 14 mph bone-chilling wind that zinged right through you.  Even so, I went out with my camera to try to snap an image of a chipping sparrow I spotted on the feeder.  Inevitably, when I have one thing in mind, a half-dozen other things start happening and I am glued to the spot, despite the cold.      

I have been seeing and hearing a pair of flickers for a while, mostly at a distance, seldom close enough to take satisfying images.  I enjoy their communication, that "wicka, wicka, wicka" call that sounds a lot like an exchange of whimpers as they move about the trees staying relatively close to each other.  And back when the weather was warmer, as the day was ending, I would occasionally see a flicker fly up under the eave leaving a tail-brace visible for an instant, then disappear all-together.  I wondered if the gazebo had become a handy roost.

Today, the chipping sparrow pulled me out the door at just the right moment.  A flicker landed on a nearby oak limb.  Thinking he might be headed for the feeder, I froze in place, but it was the gazebo beside me that held his interest instead.  

I always like to think I'm invisible when I'm photographing birds, but I guess not, especially with the camera shudder clicking.  Certainly birds see us, even when we're very still, and from great distances long before we see them.  So Mr. flicker paused to take a peek at me, too, and I was pleased that he continued right on with his exploration.      

Right behind him came his mate, landing on the roof out of sight at first, then dropping down bringing a flurry of snow with her. Don't you just love all that brilliant yellow?!

Recent breeding surveys have shown the northern flicker to be declining.  According to my Atlas of Breeding Birds in TN ed. by Chuck P. Nicholson, northern flickers begin courting in midwinter if they are nonmigratory.  I haven't seen the nuptial displays that are described, but we certainly have a pair here that is investigating sites and foraging together.  They like this gazebo and visited it more than once today.            

My guess is it makes a sheltered roosting spot and a nice place to hang out.  However, it's not unheard of for a flicker to use a human structure for nesting if it has the right height and other characteristics.  Would that be a fun activity to witness!  I might never leave home!  Below, you see the female as she is landing on one of the gazebo side boards.  

I couldn't have been more thrilled to be standing in that spot!

A little later in the day I saw them flying together among the trees in the lower yard.  Once they landed, the male appeared to be foraging and the female sat quietly on a trunk close by.  When the male departed, she moved to the spot where he had been and foraged in the same place. Sweet. And such a privilege for me to witness this series of behaviors, all happening only a few hours apart.  

And that little chippie that enticed me out into the cold?  A sweet ball of fluff with fire on his head (and a tiny bit of snow on his 'nose')!    

To see more of my favorite encounters with woodpeckers, visit Berry Dining Sapsucker Style, Time Out for Woodpeckers, and Who's Boss?  The northern flickers above are referred to as the yellow-shafted variety because of the yellow feather shafts.  You may also enjoy seeing a red-shafted northern flicker that I encountered in New Mexico.  

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #125 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

Northern Flicker—Red Shafted

I flushed a pair of northern flickers during my first short walk along a logging trail up the mountain from camp. Thankfully it was short walk.

We had just been introduced to camp, settled our belongings in our tent cabins and were free for about an hour before dinner. During my walk, I found a downed log and sat among the pines and aspen to feel the silence. The silence is powerful in this place. We don’t realize how much noise we encounter in our everyday lives until we step into a pristine wilderness of this kind. Even the ground was silenced with a cushion of fallen needles.

The walk seemed simple enough--up and down. But I learned an early lesson about marking your trail. Boulders, trees and logging roads all look the same after a while. A later hike with others showed me I had taken the wrong fork. Except for the persistence of the dinner bell which I used for orientation, I’m not sure how long I might have wandered before finding camp again, not to mention the embarrassment of having others search for me on my very first day on the mountain. As it was, I was a little late but happily present for dinner.I encountered this red-shafted northern flicker early that same morning. I had stopped to get a better look at another woodpecker which naturally took flight. Before I could continue, the flicker landed near me (to appease me, of course) and flew to an even closer perch while I photographed him.

Northern flickers prefer feeding on the ground even though they also climb trees. According to Cornell, ants are one of their favorite foods. This woodpecker's large size surprised me, maybe because it was the closest I have ever been to a flicker of any variety. They range in size from 11-12 inches, the red-shafted variety being found in the west while the yellow-shafted form is familiar to us in the east.

The distinctive characteristics of the red-shafted form are the red mustache (male), the reddish central feather shaft and the salmon red tint under wings and tail, which is seen in flight. (In the yellow variety, the same areas are yellow instead, except for the mustache which is black.)

In camp we often heard their high pitched calls even when we didn’t see them.