The Urban Pantheist

Red-bellied woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus

When cottonmanifesto hung up the suet cage I figured we'd get house sparrows, maybe some chickadees or titmice--perhaps even a downy woodpecker. I was quite surprised when I heard the complaints of a red-bellied woodpecker objecting to my proximity. (And even more surprised that I snapped a photo before he left in a huff). At first, since this species is so much bigger than most of our feeder birds we mis-identified it as a northern flicker. The red-belly is a bit smaller than the flicker, and has distinctive markings. You will notice that the distinctive markings do not include a prominently red belly. Alas, we have to file this species along with the screech owl in our poorly named birds file.

Red-bellied woodpeckers are more common in the southeastern states, but have been moving northward to take advantage of human-provided food sources over the past couple centuries. They require large dead trees in which they can excavate nest holes. Some of these were recently cut down in our neighborhood; I hope enough habitat remains to sustain a population of these attractive animals.

Photos by cottonmanifesto. Location: the Riverway, by Brookline Ave., Boston.

Urban species #227: Northern flicker Colaptes auratus

Surprisingly, this large and striking bird is more often heard than seen. It's call note: "Clear!" and deafening song: "Flickaflickaflickaflicka!" ring through wooded parks in quieter parts of the city. On the ground it's easy to mistake for a large robin, as it digs for insects. Unlike other woodpeckers, the flicker spends a lot of time feeding on the ground. It too can be seen clinging to trees, chiseling holes in dead wood, building a nest or in search of prey, but its preferred quarry, ants, are more likely to be on the ground than high above.

Flickers and carpenter ants, along with underappreciated wood decaying fungi, transform trees into nesting space. The ants excavate wood weakened by the fungi, and the flickers drill holes to get at the ants and their young. The flickers raise their own brood in the hollow they create. The holes they make are used by many other birds, including native songbirds like chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice, as well as predatory urban birds such as screech owls and American kestrels, and of course may also be used by invasive species like European starlings and house sparrows. Perhaps most surprising, flicker holes provide nesting sites for some small ducks, notably buffleheads and mergansers, but especially wood ducks.

Northern flickers are common and abundant throughout most of North America. In the western states the flicker is known as the "red-shafted," and in the east it is the "yellow shafted" due to the color of the shaft of their primary wing feathers. Most often when someone brings me an unidentified feather, it's a yellow-shafted flicker feather. The color on these feathers looks almost artificial, as if it were a dyed feather from a costume. In the north most flickers migrate, but some along coasts and in well-landscaped settled areas, stay through winter, feeding on the fruit of ornamental shrubs and trees, and in agricultural fields.



( More flickers! )

Urban species #014, Downy woodpecker Picoides pubescens

The downy woodpecker is familiar to anyone who has ever bought a suet cage. North America's smallest and most common woodpecker has adapted well to the strange human habit of hanging lumps of cattle fat outside their windows. About three-quarters of the continent is home to the downies, including many urban areas. Teach yourself to recognize their descending whinny, and you'll be amazed how often these little woodpeckers are nearby. Their small size helps their urban success; they are more able to use birdfeeders and suet cages than larger woodpeckers, and they can extract insect prey from smaller plants than trees, such as the stems of weeds.

Woodpeckers peck to find food, make nest holes, and to make noise. The drumming of a woodpecker can be a breeding or territorial display. Living around humans gives downy woodpeckers a range of amplifying surfaces to hammer on. If a dead branch is good, aluminum siding or a gutter or the sheet metal on a chimney must be even better.

Downy woodpeckers are seen year-round even in northern cities.

( more pictures )