[Leica] IMG: Wednesday Woodpeckers

[Douglas Herr]

a tale of two species...

the players: Nuttall's Woodpecker pair
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut06.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut08.html

female Acorn Woodpecker
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor12.html

the scene: a dead cottonwood tree, Sacramento County California

The Nuttall's pair has been working for several days excavating a nest cavity in a dead Cottonwood tree
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut09.html

When I arrived on the morning of 19 April 2020 I saw the male Nuttall's remove something from the cavity that looked like an egg, then resume work on the cavity. Weird, I thought, let's keep watching.

In the days since I first observed the Nuttall's pair working on the cavity, a colony of Acorn Woodpeckers moved in nearby. A female Acorn Woodpecker seemed unusually interested in the Nuttall's cavity
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor13.html

at this point the male Nuttall's raised the alarm
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut10.html

Apparently Acorn Woodpeckers don't share nest trees. I also observed the female Acorn repeatedly use her face-chisel to try to stab the female Nuttall's who was inside the cavity.

I'm guessing the Acorn Woodpecker left an egg in the Nuttall's nest cavity for the Nuttall's to hatch & raise, Mr. Nuttall's discovered the ruse and removed the Acorn Woodpecker egg sending Ms. Acorn into a tizzy.

Meanwhile in another part of the woods a male Acorn Woodpecker was making another nest cavity
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor10.html

it's always the guys who take out the trash
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor09.html

all: Sony a7rIII, 600mm f/3 GM, big tripod.  Some with 1.4x TC.

All comments welcome.


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com