On Sunday, April 21, 2013 10:09:43 PM UTC-4, Mike Mangiaracina wrote:
> I spent a while today observing two Red Bellied Woodpeckers try to discourage a Starling from building a nest in their hole to no avail. The woodpeckers were making a racket and buzzing the starling, but the starling just kept going back and forth with nesting material and showed no great concern. I'm wondering, since the woodpeckers have the ability to make holes in trees, what stops them from getting physical with the starling, and what adaptation does the starling has that gives it the upper hand? Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks!
>
> Mike Mangiaracina
> Takoma Park
I watched a similar scene unfold in my back yard a few years ago. I was so excited to hope to watch my pair of red-bellies nest outside my window to have a mob of starlings take over. The red-bellies continue and I am assuming they have nested deeper in the forest behind my house instead of on the edge near my house because the pair continues to visit my feeders every day. I guess the good news is the tree where they made their nest hole ended up falling over anyway, so this time it was the starlings that lost mid-season.
Denise Ryan
Cheverly, MD
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