Another hairy woodpecker nest, chick, and dad at Nose Hill Park, Calgary

Male hairy woodpecker (left), chick (center), and feeding chick (right).


It has been a unique year for finding woodpecker nests.  While camping in Wabamun Provincial Park earlier this year, I found and photographed a hairy woodpecker nest (click here for blog).  Today, while visiting Calgary, I found and photographed another hairy woodpecker nest and chick.  I also photographed bush tit nests early this spring, although they were from the previous year (click here for blog).  

Downy woodpeckers are much smaller than their similar-looking cousins, the hairy woodpeckers.  I had the good opportunity to photograph both species a couple of years ago while hiking Telford Lake in Leduc (click here for blog).  It can be hard to tell them apart; at first I thought it was a downy woodpecker, but the bill length tells me otherwise.

The chicks of woodpeckers make a repeating high-pitched noise, almost sounding like "we-we-we-we."  Every woodpecker nest I have found, including flickers, sapsuckers, and hairy woodpeckers, has happened because the chicks have been belting out that tune.  It's an interesting thought that other bird species don't often take to making such a racket for fear of predation.  But, given the protection of their wooden fortress, it makes sense that they never adapted in that manner.

The greatest risk to woodpecker chicks has come from humans.  I once saw boys lifting a long stick up to the hole with the intent of sticking it in there to see what happened.  I chased them off, of course, but it bothers me that humans are capable of doing that.  I remember, to my shame, of doing such things when I was a boy, but I learned early about the value of life and have tried to honour it since then.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com
 

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