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| I'm sitting outside right now in our backyard while my daughter swings on her swing set. For the first time EVER, I am hearing a woodpecker in my next door neighbor's ginormous willow tree. I've never heard a woodpecker before! Don't laugh! lol
It's loud! Tap tap tap tap tap, silence then more taps. My daughter and I have tried to pick out which bird it is but it's too hard to tell....I don't even know what one looks like. So many birds in it right now making a lot of noise, but the woodpecker's loud drumbeat is the most enjoyable for me. Could they kill a tree? |
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| They are the indicators that under the bark or in the crevice lay bugs. Those are what damage the tree. The sapsucker, however, will drill for the sap. They are so beautiful and such a rare visitor up close and personal, they're welcome to it as far as I'm concerned. The up side to that is that insects are often attracted to that sap as well and end up in the bellies of their progeny. Our property is abounding all all members of this bird family and we have spotted every one of them including the pileated and red-headed and we leave some scrag trees with cavities up so that they have potential nesting sites. Their calls and drumming are an anticipated and enjoyed part of our lives. |
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| Sapsuckers have killed several trees of mine and damaged some of the larger growing Rhododendrons. The first one was a Abies pinsapo, 'Glauca',Blue Spanish Fir. The second two were Sequoiadendron gigantea, 'Pendulum'. Only the weeping, not the species. They even killed a Cedrus deodara! I will just have to work around them I guess. Mike  Cedrus deodara
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- Posted by ilovemytrees 5b Western NY (My Page) on Mon, May 14, 12 at 11:53
| Wow, look at that damage. I am so sorry that that happened to you. As a musician, my husband is impressed by the rhythmic-ness and the musicality of their taps. They're not random taps per say, but done in a specific pattern. Very impressive, though their damage is not. How they don't get a migraine headache from the back and forth of their heads tapping is beyond me. :< |
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- Posted by ken_adrian (My Page) on Mon, May 14, 12 at 12:28
| you really have to think about all this evolution.. in regards to a bird.. whose goal in life is to smash it beak and skull.. REPEATEDLY.. into a resistant material .. like wood ... would you think .. that after a couple millions years.. they might come up with some other way to feed themselves???? we have two types.. the big pileated woodpecker ... woody ... red head and a tuxedo ... and the red makes them easy to spot ... and the much more abundant smaller ones ... w/o the red head ... but still black and white ... maybe the downy woodpecker i have found.. if you have enough adult beverages.. and sit there long enough.. concentrating on where the sound is coming from.. either you will eventually see it flitting about.. hoping up and down the trunks ... or you will pass out and that will be the end of that ... ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: link
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- Posted by cearbhaill Zone 6b Eastern KY (My Page) on Mon, May 14, 12 at 15:20
| I love my woodpeckers- when they are back in the woods they sound so melancholy on a cool misty morning. I can sit outside in the afternoons and watch the Pileated come right up in the yard and peck on logs and stumps we have used decoratively around the beds. I sat and watched one peck for 20 minutes one day- he was absolutely shredding a big oak log and this was with me and three dogs right out there. They're kind of comical to watch the way they hop down trees. I keep suet feeders out all year and they are big fans of the feeding stations, too. Gotta be my favorite bird for entertainment. |
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| LOVE THEM. They were part of my surroundings growing up. Along with cicadids, crickets, owls, bats, snakes, etc. They are all welcome around my home. Keep the cities, I've been to more than enough of those (i.e. Chicago, Seattle, Montreal, Toronto, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Tampa, Orlando, Dallas/Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, St. Louis, Houston to name a few). Yes, I'm a country boy at heart. Arktrees |
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| Love them yes! Until they start tapping into the side of your house! We rented a house once in the Bay Area and this woodpecker would wake us up at about 5 am every morning. Eventually a pie pan was hung over the area he tapped at. Then he tapped at the metal pie pan for awhile and eventually gave up. I think he was a bit nuts myself. |
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- Posted by GreenHavenGarden none (My Page) on Tue, May 15, 12 at 11:03
| Hate them! They do a lot of damage around here on wooden houses. I was told its bc there are bugs under the siding but we had an exterminator come and look and there isn't (at our house anyways). I do enjoy the other birds that visit our feeders though. |
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| Love them. We have downy, red-bellied, red-headed, and flickers. They love the suet we hang out and they are so much fun to watch as they go up and down trees. We did have one that tapped on the house very briefly, but he did not continue, so no problem. |
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- Posted by jimbobfeeny 5a IN (My Page) on Wed, May 16, 12 at 20:36
| You live in Western NY and have never heard a woodpecker?! Hmmmmmm...... I do enjoy the woodpeckers - They never do that much damage. They usually start in on trees that are already on their way out. Sapsuckers, I don't know about. I've only seen them once around here. What is interesting is listening to the calls that woodpeckers make. Definitely less heard than the drumming. Sitting in front of this thing with the window open - Drumming peckers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, cardinals...I think it's time to go outside! Beautiful evening here. |
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