pecker

Dont Mess With Me, I Can Peck You Up!

March 13, 2022 — 14 Comments

F/9.0, 1/1250, ISO 400.

Downy Woodpecker

Teacher: Bob please point to America on the map.

Bob: This is it.

Teacher: Well done. Now class, who found America?

Class: Bob did.

Interesting Fact: Woodpeckers don’t sing songs, but they drum loudly against pieces of wood or metal to achieve the same effect. People sometimes think this drumming is part of the birds’ feeding habits, but it isn’t. In fact, feeding birds make surprisingly little noise even when they’re digging vigorously into wood. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/downy_woodpecker/lifehistory )

Stop Knocking And Come In Its Snowing Out There

February 17, 2022 — 4 Comments

F/6.3, 1/60, 500.

Downy Woodpecker

What do snowmen eat for breakfast?

Frosted Flakes.

Interesting Fact: An active woodpecker that moves quickly over tree trunks, branches, and stems of grasses and wildflowers, characteristically leaning against its stiffened tail feathers for support. Downy Woodpeckers move horizontally and downwards on trees much more readily than most other woodpeckers. You may also see them perched atop tall weeds such as goldenrod in late summer, hammering away at a plant gall to get at the larva inside. Occasionally hops on the ground for food.  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/lifehistory )

 

 

He Can Be A Real Pecker !

February 8, 2022 — 27 Comments

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F/ 6.3, 1/125, ISO 1100.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

An New York woodpecker and a Florida woodpecker were in New York arguing about which state had the toughest trees to peck. The New Yorker

woodpecker said that they had a tree there that no woodpecker can peck.

The Florida woodpecker challenged him and was able to peck a hole in the tree with no problem. The New Yorker woodpecker was in awe!

The Florida woodpeck then challenged the New Yorker woodpecker to come to Florida and try to peck this certain tree there that no woodpecker had

ever been able to peck successfully.

The NewYorker woodpecker said he was sure he would be able to do it. So, after flying down to Florida, he successfully pecked the tree!

The two woodpeckers then had a discussion about why they were each unable to peck those trees in their own states. After thinking about this problem

for some time, they both came to the same conclusion: “Your pecker is always harder when you’re away from home…”

 

Interesting Fact: You may sometimes see Red-bellied Woodpeckers wedge large nuts into bark crevices, then whack them into manageable pieces using their beaks. They also use cracks in trees and fence posts to store food for later in the year, a habit it shares with other woodpeckers in its genus. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/lifehistory )

 

 

 

Use Your Head!

February 1, 2022 — 18 Comments

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F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 400.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

What did the trees wear to Mother Nature’s pool party?

Swimming trunks!

Interesting Fact: The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker frequently uses human-produced materials to help in its territorial drumming. Street signs and metal chimney flashing amplify the irregular tapping of a territorial sapsucker. The sapsucker seems to suffer no ill effects of whacking its bill on metal, and a bird will return to a favorite sign day after day to pound out its Morse code-like message. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker/lifehistory  )

I Have A Headache!

November 7, 2021 — 18 Comments

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F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.

Downy Woodpecker

Why did Adele cross the road?

To sing, “Hello from the other side!”

 Interesting Fact: Downy Woodpeckers have been discovered nesting inside the walls of buildings. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/lifehistory )

Please Keep Off The Grass!

November 3, 2021 — 3 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 400.

Northern Flicker

What can you hold without ever touching it?

A conversation.

Interesting Fact: The red-shafted and yellow-shafted forms of the Northern Flicker formerly were considered different species. The two forms hybridize extensively in a wide zone from Alaska to the panhandle of Texas. A hybrid often has some traits from each of the two forms and some traits that are intermediate between them. The Red-shafted Flicker also hybridizes with the Gilded Flicker, but less frequently. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker )

Don’t Look At My Hole!

August 19, 2021 — 24 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.

Hispaniolan Woodpecker

Why aren’t there any shark puppeteers?

They have no hands!

Interesting Fact: This woodpecker forages in small noisy groups; the diet is varied and includes insects, spiders, scorpions, lizards, fruit, seeds, grain and sap. It can catch flying insects on the wing, and larger food items are bashed on an “anvil” to break them up. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniolan_woodpecker )

When Your Past Calls Don’t Answer. It Has Noting New To Say.

August 18, 2021 — 11 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 400.

Northern Flicker

What do you call a bear with no socks on?

Bare-foot.

Interesting Fact: Northern Flickers generally nest in holes in trees like other woodpeckers. Occasionally, they’ve been found nesting in old, earthen burrows vacated by Belted Kingfishers or Bank Swallows. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker )

So Psyched To Head Bang Today!

May 21, 2021 — 28 Comments

F/10.0, 1/320, ISO 160.

Hispaniolan Woodpecker

What are three words you dread the most while making love?

“Honey, I’m home.”

Interesting Fact: Unlike most woodpeckers, the Hispaniolan woodpecker is a social species that takes advantage of having a large number of individual adult birds in the colony to protect a nesting bank or tree. There may be twenty pairs of birds in a colony, with several nesting in the same tree. The nests are excavated in trunks and branches, and discarded holes are reused by parrots, parakeets, trogons, the Antillean piculet and the golden swallow. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniolan_woodpecker )

Don’t Let Anyone Bring You Down. Make Today The Best Day Of Your Life.

March 25, 2021 — 40 Comments

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 400.

Northern Flicker

Why are frogs always so happy?

They eat what ever bugs them.

Interesting Fact: Northern Flickers generally nest in holes in trees like other woodpeckers. Occasionally, they’ve been found nesting in old, earthen burrows vacated by Belted Kingfishers or Bank Swallows. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/overview )