Wood Pecker

[325abn]

Saw a wood pecker pecking on a sap bucket this morning, heard it earlier in the week but did not see it. Anybody else ever hear or see a wood pecker pecking on a bucket? I am going try and film it next time.

[Merklin Maples]

No. Have had lots of troubles with sap suckers(birds) and re squirrels. A couple of the red squirrels have gone to heaven. Pellet guns are nice and quiet and the homeowners want them gone too. When I asked if they liked them(some people do) I was told to shoot as many of the ***###@@@ thing as I see.

[DrTimPerkins]

Saw a wood pecker pecking on a sap bucket this morning, heard it earlier in the week but did not see it. Anybody else ever hear or see a wood pecker pecking on a bucket? I am going try and film it next time.

We don't have any buckets at PMRC, but at home we have a metal-bestos chimney or our gas fireplace. For a few years we had a resident woodpecker who would get up there and bang away all day long. I finally got up on the roof and put some "Tangle-Foot" (really sticky stuff) all around the base of the chimney. A little while later I heard one loud bang....then it stopped. He never came back.

[happy thoughts]

Any idea what kind of wood pecker? The sap suckers like our metal barn roof. It's persisitent and loud enough to drive you bonkers sometimes. I was told they bang on metal to attract mates and mark their territory.

[Ausable]

The Woodpeckers we see are the Downy, Hairy, Red Bellied and the Pileated. They will a drum on resonant objects (like pails, metal chimneys etc.) to attract mates and establish territory. A Birder (which I am not) can tell you which woodpecker you are hearing by the drum pattern. They seem to like drumming in the morning best. But - will do it anytime during the day and both the male and females do it. ---Mike----

[heus]

Every morning at sunrise the crows peck on our metal chimney! Speaking of wood peckers the sapsuckers are at it again. They have almost girdled one of my 12" sugar maples. They actually killed one of my reds a few years back.

[Snowy Pass Maple]

Pileated woodpeckers are quite distinctive - what Woody Woodpecker was based on. Well known "laughing" call - lots of sound files can be found online - and really large dramatic birds. The underside looks like piano keys when they fly. They are our favorite bird and our woods are very full of them - we've thought about integrating one into our farm logo.

We leave quite a few standing dead trees for them to nest in - they spend a lot of time on those and don't seem to do any damage to anything we care about. Their nests are also easy to find - large openings that often face east. We had one pair raise chicks right off our driveway and it was quite a sight to watch the birds poking out of the tree and the parents regularly flying back to feed them. Many other birds and even other animals will move into their cavities so they support a lot of diversity in the woods and help control a lot of pests.

I can't say I've ever seen them touch anything other than trees by us.