I think the bird that flew out of the hole was just roosting there. 
Screech owl sounds like a good guess to me. At least I don't have a 
better guess.

The hole was almost certainly used as a nest cavity, since the 
woodpecker pulled grasses out of the tree. I've never heard of 
red-bellied woodpeckers preying on nests, and in any case the woodpecker 
wouldn't wait until November to do so. No bird would have an active nest 
this late in the year.

I suspect the woodpecker was looking for insects, and probably finding 
lots of them. My understanding is that's what woodpeckers normally eat.

June

-- 
June Tveekrem
Columbia, Maryland
tweekiebird|AT|southernspreadwing.com
http://SouthernSpreadwing.com



 wrote:
> June,
>  
> I think you've pretty much got it! 
>  
> I think the woodpecker penetrated the cavity.  I believe there was 
> nesting material in the cavity and the woodpecker was pulling the 
> nesting material out.  Some was grass - appeared to be - some may have 
> been sticks. Some was something I could not figure out.  The bird 
> pulled quite a bit out.
>  
> I'm looking for any discussion on this odd behavior.  I figure the 
> bird in the tree might have just been roosting there, or it may have 
> been nesting - but it did come out of the hole.  I'm curious if nest 
> predation is a behavior of red bellied woodpeckers. 
>  
> Any information or enlightenment would be welcome!
>  
> Thanks
>  
> Joanne
>
> Joanne Howl, DVM
> West River, MD
> 
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: June Tveekrem
> To: 
> Sent: Tue, Nov 3, 2009 2:17 pm
> Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Tundra Swan and odd Woodpecker behavior
>
> Joanne, 
>  
> I don't quite follow your description about the woodpecker behavior. 
> Let's see if I've interpreted it right: 
>  
> 1) A tree had a hole in it; the hole was 3 inches in diameter. You 
> assumed it was a cavity nest. 
> 2) About 6 inches below the hole, a red-bellied woodpecker was pecking 
> on the trunk. 
> 3) The pecking sound was loud, meaning the tree was hollow where the 
> woodpecker was. This implies the hole extended down inside the tree 
> for at least 6 inches. 
> 4) The woodpecker's bill went deep into the tree. You don't mention 
> whether the woodpecker had gotten all the way through the trunk yet 
> and tapped into the original hole. 
> 5) A different bird flew out of the 3-inch diameter hole, scaring the 
> woodpecker away temporarily. 
> 6) The woodpecker returned to where it was pecking before, and began 
> pulling grasses out of the tree. Evidently the woodpecker had now 
> penetrated all the way through the trunk. 
> 7) The woodpecker occasionally went up to the 3-inch diameter entrance 
> and peered in, but did not enter. 
> 8) A second woodpecker chased the first one away, poked around a bit, 
> then left. 
>  
> You asked two questions: 
> 1) What species of bird flew out of the hole? 
> 2) What was the woodpecker looking for and eating? 
>  
> Is the above indeed what you were saying, or did I misinterpret? 
>  
> June