Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 12:57:00 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Re: Question on Woodpeckers MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone, Woodpeckers and nuthatches that regularly visit feeders through the spring are most likely nesting nearby. Downies may nest in areas with relatively small trees, while larger species require correspondingly larger trees. Many of them will excavate in dead or dying trees or in a dead limb of a live tree. Finding one excavating a cavity is not necessarily confirmation of nesting, since they also excavate cavities for roosting. Egg dates for Maryland woodpeckers generally range from mid-April through May, when these birds can be difficult to locate. Activity around the nest increases once the young hatch, as parents become busy making food deliveries. Nestlings remain in the nest between three and four weeks, and as they get older, their food-begging calls can become very audible, even from a distance. Listen for an incessant, rhythmic harsh call that periodically increases in intensity (when food is delivered), then be alert for an agitated (by your presence) parent nearby. Once the young fledge, they may follow their parents to your yard and feeders, where they will continue to beg to be fed. Young Downies (and Hairies) of both sexes can be recognized by red patches on their crowns, as opposed to the back-of-the-head patch of their dads. Juvenile Red-bellies are almost entirely gray-brown headed and have blurred black and white barring on the back. White-breasted Nuthatches are trickier to confirm nesting, apparently being more secretive in their comings and goings about the nest site. They usually choose a natural cavity, often with a much larger opening than you would expect from the size of the bird. They have also been known to use nest boxes. They begin nesting a week or two earlier than many woodpeckers and spend only two weeks in the nest after hatching. Parents care for the fledglings for another two weeks before they become independent. Juveniles are more difficult to distinguish from adults than are woodpeckers - look for loosely-textured (fluffy-looking) belly feathers, especially under the tail. Have fun observing, and report any breeding confirmations to your local atlaser. Walter Ellison MD-DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. White (in "Stuart Little") ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gema Crystal" To: Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2004 8:49 AM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Question on Woodpeckers > Hi guys, > > I've had a couple of Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers, > and now a White-breasted Nuthatch couple, at my house for a while now. > How can you tell if they're nesting? Where are their nest? We've been > waiting for babies for a while. > > Gema Crystal > Fvsb1@aol.com > (If you send a e-mail, please put "Bird" in te subject line so I > know it's not junk mail. Thanks.) > > ====================================================================== > = > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================