Life histories of North American woodpeckers — John Shaqi
Life histories of North American woodpeckersBent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American woodpeckers
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- North America; Woodpeckers -- North America
In the region where I am most familiar with it, southern New England,
it is not an abundant bird at any season, quite rare in summer and
oftener seen in winter. It is essentially a retiring, forest-loving
bird, being found with us in summer in the dry deciduous woods, or
occasionally in rural districts in old orchards near the borders of
wooded areas. In winter, it is given more to wandering into villages
and towns, or may be seen even in the shade trees in larger cities.
I remember having found it only twice in swampy woods, but Dr. George
M. Sutton (1928b), in his paper on the birds of Pymatuning Swamp,
Crawford County, Pa., says: “The hairy woodpecker occurs only rarely in
the higher deciduous woods outside the borders of Pymatuning during the
nesting season, but it is abundant everywhere in the wooded Swamp, and
in the restricted area, closely examined in 1922, was considered one of
the most numerous species.”
_Courtship._--Francis H. Allen has sent me the following notes on this
subject: “The courtship dance consists of a weaving motion of the head,
as with the flicker, accompanied by a high-pitched _ch’weech, ch’weech,
ch’weech_, repeated over and over vociferously. The note is much like
that of the flicker, but higher-pitched and more rapidly delivered.
Three and sometimes four birds may be seen so engaged together, but I
have no observation as to the sexes. In quiet intervals in courtship,
the head is held with bill parallel with the axis of the body, not at
right angles as in feeding.”
Edward H. Forbush (1927) writes:
On bright March days this bird begins to practise what
is either a love song, a challenge, a call to its mate,
or all combined. This is no vocal music but instead a
loud drumming on some resonant dead tree, branch, or
pole. This long roll or tattoo is louder than that of the
downy woodpecker, not quite so long, and with a slightly
greater interval between each succeeding stroke. It takes a
practiced ear, however, to distinguish between the drumming
of these two species. In courtship the male chases the
female from tree to tree with coaxing calls, and there is
much dodging about among the branches and bowing to each
other before the union is consummated.
Rex Brasher (1926) writes:
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