{"id":2906,"date":"2020-07-11T11:47:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-11T11:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.megforward.com\/birds\/?p=2906"},"modified":"2022-03-31T19:54:07","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T19:54:07","slug":"woodpecker-nest-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.megforward.com\/birds\/index.php\/2020\/07\/11\/woodpecker-nest-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodpecker Nest, 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers<\/strong> (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) <\/em>spent most of May and June concentrated on their nest in a cavity in a dead pine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Preferring to be at a distance from humans, this woodpecker is primarily a forest bird. I found them in a rural area by going down an unpaved service road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Habitat of the Red-headed Woodpecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cavity is less than 3 inches wide.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nest cavity is about 30 feet above ground<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The bold patterning of this bird makes it very conspicuous. Males and females look exactly the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although it seemed as if I was watching only a single bird each time I visited the site, it’s likely that both parents were tending the nest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hunting for food to feed the young occupied the parents during their time away from the nest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caught a grasshopper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Carrying food in bill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They also spent time in another hole higher up the same tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After two months of watching this nest cavity, I finally caught sight of a head peeking out of the opening. There were lots of nestlings inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here’s a juvenile, fledged and independent. It will keep this drab coloration through the fall and much of the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A few more photographs of the adult Red-headed Woodpecker.<\/strong>..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Red-headed Woodpecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sometimes calld “Shirt-tail Bird”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The woodpecker plays an important role in Longfellow’s epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha<\/em>.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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The Mohawk hero, Hiawatha, engaged in combat with his enemy for an entire day without success. Toward evening a woodpecker flew overhead and cried, “Your enemy has but one vulnerable point. Shoot at his scalp-lock.” Hiawatha did exactly that and killed his enemy. Grateful, he dipped his finger in the blood of his foe, touching the bird’s head and turning the feathers red.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here are more posts about woodpeckers…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n