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Subject:

woodpecker war

From:

Carrol Cowan

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Date:

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 15:58:33 +0000

Yesterday afternoon (1/15) I went for a walk without my binoculars, thinking it was too windy for birds to be out.  Headed for the sheltered valley of Dumbarton Oaks park - apparently the birds had the same idea, as the bushes, trees and ground were full of them!   

Hearing a very agitated Downy Woodpecker, I went to see if I could locate it sans glasses, and it wasn't hard.  It was harassing a Red-belly that was investigating the underside of a dead branch that had fallen from a tree and rested between two saplings.  The Downy was in constant motion, dive-bombing the Red-belly or just swooping over it, back and forth between the two trees, and chattering the whole time.  It appeared to actually peck at the Red-belly a couple times.  The larger bird ignored the Downy, occasionally dodging but generally unfazed.

I watched this for several minutes, then returned about 30 minutes later to see what they were fighting over.  There was a woodpecker hole in the branch where the Red-belly had been; I couldn't see anything more than that.  Were they fighting over a roost, or what?
--
Carrol Cowan 
Washington DC 
arielamcATatt.net