It is the little things in life - Page 2

PorscheGAL · PorscheGAL's Garage

We have Pileated WP here. The sound they make is crazy. Almost sounds like monkeys especially when a few are responding to one another.

flatbutt · 03-09-2022, 05:20 AM

Sometimes the little things aren't so little

mjohnson · mjohnson's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjh

...Don't ask why our house is sided in vinyl and aluminum.

Supposedly if they're hacking on your wood that indicates that there's something in there to eat (bad for homeowner). I guess that makes sense, why waste the energy poking holes for no food?

Unless of course your one of our flickers. Those guys are horny jerks and bang on stuff (wood/metal/a gong if they could) just to get the ladies' attention. They're beautiful birds but kinda jerks.

Speaking of jerks, imagine if hummingbirds (especially the orange Rufous) were the size of ravens. There'd be human casualties...

porsche tech · 03-09-2022, 05:30 AM

Not uncommon around here and usually seen in pairs.

stevej37 · 03-09-2022, 05:36 AM

16-19 inches average size....
https://www.squirrelsatthefeeder.com/how-big-is-a-pileated-woodpecker/

cabmandone · cabmandone's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjohnson

Supposedly if they're hacking on your wood that indicates that there's something in there to eat (bad for homeowner). I guess that makes sense, why waste the energy poking holes for no food?

Unless of course your one of our flickers. Those guys are horny jerks and bang on stuff (wood/metal/a gong if they could) just to get the ladies' attention. They're beautiful birds but kinda jerks.

Speaking of jerks, imagine if hummingbirds (especially the orange Rufous) were the size of ravens. There'd be human casualties...

Not to mention it would probably sound like a twin engine airplane flying around in your back yard.

KFC911 · 03-09-2022, 05:52 AM

We have small peckers here

.

Though I have a bunch of trees around, they put a hurt on my chimney chase siding some years back (some wood rot behind the siding... now fixed) along with adjacent houses' chases. Thankfully they've gone back to the trees and I hear them all the time.

Birds are hateful critters in general.... they do not get along and play nice .

I also have hawks & crows around ... their "air wars" are like watching the WW2 aces in combat

MBAtarga · 03-09-2022, 05:57 AM

I was pruning one of our apple trees on Saturday afternoon and noticed this fellow. He blended in quite nicely with the surrounding bark. One of the pruned branches fell and knocked him off so I picked him up and placed him back.

cabmandone · cabmandone's Garage

Tree frogs freak me out. You're working, not paying a bit of attention and BOOM there's two little eyes staring at you.

pavulon · 03-09-2022, 07:27 AM

My first Pileated experience was the sound one made flying just over my head as it approached from behind me. Looked up to see a farking Pterodactyl was strafing my lawn. Jeebus! Now hear and see the local pair regularly. Not much need to take down a dead tree when those two are so proficient at turning it to mulch while contributing to entertainment.

OK-944 · 03-09-2022, 07:39 AM

There's an almost-dead spruce in our side yard - quite visible from our bedroom window...and for the last couple of years a pair of pileated's show up in mid-springtime...to continue working away at some of their large holes near the base of this tree. So entertaining to watch as we sip our coffee, each of us with a pair of binoculars.

Looking ahead...I can imagine that this old tree will give out and topple over - but as long as it looks like it will fall short of the house, we're going to leave it alone...so the peckers can keep on peckin'!

masraum · 03-09-2022, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjohnson

Supposedly if they're hacking on your wood that indicates that there's something in there to eat (bad for homeowner). I guess that makes sense, why waste the energy poking holes for no food?

Unless of course your one of our flickers. Those guys are horny jerks and bang on stuff (wood/metal/a gong if they could) just to get the ladies' attention. They're beautiful birds but kinda jerks.

Speaking of jerks, imagine if hummingbirds (especially the orange Rufous) were the size of ravens. There'd be human casualties...

Yep, there are 4 main reasons why woodpeckers peck.
1 Food
2 To make a home
3 To mark their territory or warn off predators
4 To find a mate

Some will peck on metal items, presumably for #3 and #4.

john70t · 03-09-2022, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC911

Birds are hateful critters in general.... they do not get along and play nice .

There was a local gang of English Sparrows (numbering at least a hundred) that would swarm in like bullies on any bird near my backyard feeder.
I would try to drive them off to no avail sometimes while the other species would swoop into the void and grab seeds next to me.
The sparrow numbers seemed to have diminished in the last few years and I've even seen the piliated woodpecker again.

More predator birds seem to be returning as well, or are fleeing from somewhere else.
On a walk last year, there was a couple coopers hawks being harassed by crows with a couple bald eagles above them watching close. Amazing.

Another critter contest has been the native fox squirrel vs, the nasty high energy red squirrel which chirped in noisy discontent all day.
The reds took over the neighborhood, but recently the foxes seem to have returned.

Crowbob · 03-09-2022, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

Yep, there are 4 main reasons why woodpeckers peck.
1 Food
2 To make a home
3 To mark their territory or warn off predators
4 To find a mate

Some will peck on metal items, presumably for #3 and #4.

Early one morning on the farm all of a sudden an alarm clock sounded off. Trouble is it was outside somewhere. Then it went off again and again. Total mystery.

Finally, we found the source. It was some kind of pecker pecking the galvanized steel pipe supporting the electric line attached to the house.

Starless · 03-09-2022, 11:07 AM

Since we're on the topic of birds, does anyone know what kind of bird this is? Since our beach cottage in Spain is empty most of the year, they would build their nest in our kitchen exhaust. By the time we would get there, early June, they already had young ones sticking their heads out waiting for the parents to bring them food. We didn't use the exhaust fan until they left.

pavulon · 03-09-2022, 11:31 AM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_hoopoe

oldE · 03-09-2022, 12:50 PM

Yep, hoopoe. We first saw them in the south of France.

Best
Les