Life histories of North American woodpeckersBent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American woodpeckers
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- North America; Woodpeckers -- North America
The first two stomachs were well filled, and though only the content of
the third was received it was apparently well filled also. This last
stomach alone contained a trace of gravel. Forty-six percent of the
food was animal in origin, long-horned beetles (Cerambycidae, including
_Parandra polita_ and _Stenodontus dasystomus_) comprising 45.33
percent, while the remaining 0.67 percent consisted of 3 different
species of engraver beetles (_Tomicus_ spp.). Southern magnolia seeds
(_Magnolia grandiflora_) formed 14 percent of the vegetable food,
hickory (_Hicoria_ sp.) and pecan (_Hicoria pecan_) nuts formed 27
percent, and poison ivy (_Rhus radicans_) equaled 12.67 percent.
Fragments of an unidentified gall formed 1 percent of the content.
_Behavior._--The uniform direct flight of the ivorybill resembles that
of the red-headed woodpecker more than it does the swooping undulating
flight of the pileated, and this general resemblance is emphasized
by the large amount of white in the wings. When viewed from below,
the long pointed tail is quite conspicuous and the wings seem very
narrow because the black portion is so much more conspicuous than the
white, which apparently cuts off the whole rear of the wing. This is
perhaps not so conspicuous when viewed from the side, but even so it
is remarkable how ducklike the bird can appear as it flies swiftly
and directly up a lagoon, so much so in fact that certain Louisiana
hunters have told me that they have even shot at them under such
circumstances, mistaking them for ducks. In this connection Audubon’s
(1842) description of the flight of the ivorybill is quite misleading:
“The flight of this bird is graceful in the extreme, although seldom
prolonged to more than a few hundred yards at a time, unless when it
has to cross a large river, which it does in deep undulations, opening
its wings at first to their full extent and nearly closing them to
renew the propelling impulse. The transit from one tree to another,
even should the distance be as much as a hundred yards, is performed
by a single sweep, and the bird appears as if merely swinging itself
from the top of the one tree to that of the other, forming an elegantly
curved line.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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