All about woodpeckers O
ne of the most popular and enjoyable birds to attract to the backyard is woodpeckers. These active birds are colourful and entertaining with most species being year-round visitors. They are part of the family Picidae and are found throughout the world excluding a few locales such as New Zealand, Madagascar, and New Guinea. There are over 250 species in this family that also includes sapsuckers and flickers. Less than 20 of them are found in Canada. The majority of woodpeckers dwell in mature forests and suburban areas while others are found in desert areas where cacti are their preferred habitat. They can be seen clinging to trees as they search for insects and rarely perch, but flickers spend most of their time on the ground. Woodpeckers range in size from as small as three inches in length up to 24 inches for the largest woodpecker in Canada, the amazing pileated woodpecker. The colors of most woodpeckers are typically black, white and red, although the flickers are brown and some also have yellow in their feathers. Most species have notable patterns to their plumage like barring, speckling, or banding. Of course their most notable trait is the long pointed bill, designed to chisel into the wood of dead trees. Their nostrils are covered by bristle-like hairs that protect them from debris as they hammer into the wood. They have unusual feet compared to other birds, two toes in the front and two in the back although some have three toes in the front like the appropriately named three-toed woodpecker. This design is to cater to their need to cling to trees. They also have strong tail feathers to help them maintain their balance and to help them propel through the trees. The diet of woodpeckers is mainly insects and their larvae. If you ever see a woodpecker ‘damaging’ a tree, sadly the damage is already done internally by insects. Woodpeckers have no interest in burrowing into healthy trees. Their purpose is to find the wood-boring insects that 38 • 2021
By Sherrie Versluis
Pileated woodpeckers.
damage or even kill our trees. Many trees may appear healthy but once the woodpeckers start their work, the damage the insects have already done is evident. They will also eat berries and seeds. After excavating a cavity in a dead tree, woodpeckers will lay two to eight eggs during nesting season. No actual nest is constructed and just the wood chips are used as bedding. The young are cared for by both parents and it is a common sight to see the whole family at birdfeeders once the young have fledged. Woodpeckers contribute to humans more than we may realize. Their consumption of nuisance insects is significant. Bark beetles cause extensive damage to trees and infestations can be catastrophic to large areas with the population of these beetles in the billions. When Issue 3
this happens, woodpeckers are observed in significant numbers in these areas eating the larvae which aids greatly in reducing the beetles numbers. Orchards are often plagued with codling moths and hairy woodpeckers are recognized for controlling these outbreaks. Concussions and other brain injuries are all too common in sports. Woodpeckers have contributed to the science in helping prevent these injuries. When woodpeckers drum on trees, it is recorded at 20 times per second and some may drum 8,000-12,000 times a day. The thought of that would give us humans a real headache but why not the woodpeckers? It does get pretty scientific but the basic protection factors include flexible skulls, a special bone called a hyoid bone that surrounds the inside of the skull to localgardener.net
