Woodpeckers

[Michael Palmer]

One of my passions is birding, and it fits my lifestyle...as I'm outside with the bees most every day. When I was in the UK this past October, I kept my eyes open for new birds. I must say, that's the oddest Robin I've ever seen. But the Yellow Wagtail was cute, and the Tits at the feeder entertained me.

One bird I really wanted to see was your Green Woodpecker. No luck. Might have heard one with Chris B, but not sure. I've seen the photos of the damage that bird can do to your woodenware. Smart birds, eh, drilling through the hand holds.

In Vermont, we have four species of woodpecker. The Hairy and the Downy woodpeckers are small, backyard feeder birds. Hang around to steal some sunflower seeds or fill up on suet. In the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont...the northeast corner of the state is largely boreal forest...is the Black Backed Three-toed woodpecker. A shy bird, that is a rare sight and hard to find.

Luckily we don't have any woodpeckers with an appetite for bees, but this next one could surely do some major damage if he wanted to.

The Piliated woodpecker is our largest, and my favorite. A real Woody the Woodpecker type. Hides behind the trunk of a tree as you approach, and peeks around to see if you're there yet.

Some of the Aspens near my house are infested with some insect, and every year the Piliated couple tears one to pieces. We call it the Piliated tree. You can see why.
I have an apiary 200 feet from this tree, and the woodpeckers have never bothered the bees.

 

[Tonych224]

Wow, that's a serious bit of damage! His head must hurt afterwards!!

 

[Stiffy]

With trees like that why would a woodpecker chose to hammer away at a hive? Most of our trees get felled long before they reach that stage of infestation.
As for robins,ours are proper robins (chats) not blackbirds with attitude. We occasionally get American robins turning up as vagrants as well as the occasional vireo and wader. My claim to birding fame was finding a kildeer, a very rare vagrant while out on a birding day.
S

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Tom Bick]

Wow lovely photo and just as well they don’t go for hives as there would be nothing left.

As I understand it the woodpeckers we have don’t make it a habit of attacking hives but it’s something they learn and when they have learnt the trick it can then get to be a pain. So you can be surrounded by woodpeckers with no damage one year to the next and then one has a go at this funny box on the ground.....The same thing last year at my association apiary never any problem from woodpeckers until last winter and thankfully spotted before major damage done.

 

[sipa]

Wow !
Lets hope they never learn that beehives are the best restaurants.

thanks for the info and photo's

 

[Finman]

.
I have woodpecker in my yard and I must protect hives over winter with net.

When I leaved to my capital city home 2 days ago, I saw a woodpecker hammering an empty hive.

This pecker is the worst to beehives.

A state may give US$ 1000 penalty if you kill that pecker

 

[fatshark]

Ready made for the smoker …

 

[Swarm]

Ready made for the smoker …

 

[Norfolk]

I wonder how the folks with Poly hives get on with woodpeckers ?

 

[Norfolk]

 

[fiftyjon]

Same as with wooden hives, the woodpeckers don't mind...

 

[mbc]

One of my passions is birding, and it fits my lifestyle...as I'm outside

Is that the US equivalent of dogging ?

 

[Norfolk]

Same as with wooden hives, the woodpeckers don't mind...

Figures I guess.

It's probably about the same as the difference between a box or a bag of Maltesers.

 

[Finman]

.
Our biggest woodpercker can do big things but it is not interested in bees.
Its special is ants. It is same size as American fellow Piliated woodpecker

It is same size as pigeon.

Holes in fresh spruce

It likes bigger buildings, like barns: http://harnakka.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/lato_takaseina.jpg

Dryocopus martius, lenght 50 cm, weight 400g

Distribution: http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Dryocopus-martius


.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I used to live near one of the Royal Parks in London and there were hundreds of green woodpeckers. Nearly as many as the Parakeets! I wonder how the beekeepers get on there?
This is the only woody that we get here...they do try to rob the bird nest boxes though

 

[Michael Palmer]

Is that the US equivalent of dogging ?

Hard tellin' not knowin'.

Don't know what "dogging" is.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Oh, maybe hunting birds with dogs? No, not that.

Birding is hunting birds with binoculars and camera.

 

[Erichalfbee]

mbc is "avin a larf!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogging_(sexual_slang)

 

[Finman]

Oh, maybe hunting birds with dogs? No, not that.

Birding is hunting birds with binoculars and camera.

We use in Finland pongata.
It derives from Swedish word "poäng" = point, score. Pongata = to get scores

 

[dilys]

Hard tellin' not knowin'.

Don't know what "dogging" is.

It's best if you remain in the dark about its meaning.