Bird Droppings: Peckers!

15/11/20 Loveshaq 19

We have two types of Woodpeckers in our area, Flickers and Pileated.  The Pileated ones are beautiful, large birds with bright heads.  The Flickers are horny fuckers that during mating season sit on my roof and peck on the metal chimney cover to attract the ladies.  I throw rocks at these little bastards but they keep coming back.  In Woodpecker, the loudest pecker gets all the females.  Because of this relationship you can see I have with Flickers, this post will be about the Pileated Woodpecker.  A friend of mine called me to tell me she had a nest in her backyard in the dead tree and I should come try to get some pictures of the babies.  I was very excited to try to get a glimpse of them.  It took a little patience but the mother was very active in feeding her babies and returned every 15 minutes or so with another round of bugs. 

The little ones hide in the hole until they hear mom land on the tree and climb near the hole. 

They then fight for position to get fed.

She feeds the first one and he goes back into the hole.

The second one awaits his turn.

That’s about the extent of my pecker knowledge.  Hope you enjoyed my first bird post.  You can give me ideas for names of this post.  Birds you shouldn’t eat?  Shoot birds?  I’m open to ideas and what birds you want to see next. 

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19 Comments

  1. @MemeWeaver recommended this book in a Brain Drain: “Now reading a very differently written bird book, “How to Be a (Bad) Birdwatcher” by Simon Barnes. So far, so good. Lots of humor with lots of practical advice.”

    I bought it for my boss, and she loves it (she is a dedicated birder, has gone birding from Argentina to Alaska).

    As for the name… Bird Brains? Gotta Fly? Sorry, my friend, I bet you will get some excellent ideas, just not from me. (sigh)

  2. Hollow Bones and Co.
    Bird Droppings
    Banging Birds
    Hark a Lark!
    Peak a Beak
    Something clever Bill…
    …that’s all I got as I stare down some crows from the safety of my car while waiting for my grocery store to open. 
     
     
     

  3. Haha, I have a couple of Red Bellied Woodpeckers in my trees. There used to be a Red Headed one that lived in my neighbors yard. He would peck on their fireplace metal vent cap. It reverberated down the whole street. I love birds, I’ve become a very amateur birder. Have you watched any of Jason Ward’s stuff? He’s the only “celebrity ” birder I know of.
     

    • I have not but I will now!  I have also always loved birds.  Growing up I had an African Grey that was amazing and some parakeets.  Later my father got a Blue Fronted Amazon but he was evil.  
      The pecking on the vent cap totally reverberates through our house and scares the crap out of my kids.  Bastards! 

      • Jason also does live streamed bird walks  – I think he works for the Atlanta Audubon Society now – they’re a lot of fun. He’s incredibly knowledgeable and so excited about birds. It’s crazy – something can just barely move from about a 100 ft away and he knows exactly what kind of bird it is.
        My dream is to have an African Grey – they are so amazing. 

        • My Grey had about a 50 word vocabulary and taught me how smart birds are.  She would associate words with situations.  The phone rang, she would say “hello, yeah, yeah, okay…” If I was home and ignored her she would call my name in my dad’s voice and freak me out.  If you held out 1 finger she would start counting as you increased the number of fingers.  My brother’s friend taunted her and we realized she knew how to say “fuck you!”  She would also roar at our cat if she got too close.  I miss her terribly.
           

    • Okay, we have a leader now!  Our house is the highest that is closest to the forest which is why I think they choose our house but that is just a guess.  I’ve seen him fly to my neighbors after I throw pebbles at him so I guess I’m lucky he tries other options too.

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