Woodpeckers wary in November

November is a time when downy woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) seem especially wary. As dusk falls, downies make a beeline for their round nestholes. They spend the night in the tree cavity. But when morning comes, the woodpecker pokes its head out and looks around quickly, then pulls its head back in. A few minutes later, the bird dives out of the roost hole and flies quickly to another another tree. Some biologists think downy woodpeckers act this way because of danger from owls and hawks. Apparently owls and hawks have been known to “stake out” woodpecker holes in the morning, hoping to catch the woodpeckers when they emerge.

Perhaps woodpeckers have to be so wary now because now that the leaves are down, it isn’t as easy to hide in the trees as it was in the summer. In addition, now that some birds have migrated, there are fewer prey species for owls and hawks.

But once a downy has emerged from its nest, it has to find some food, mostly grubs and insects in tree bark or dying tree trunks. Woodpeckers peck holes in dead or dying trees as they look for insects in the bark or trunk of trees. Several insects like carpenter ants, bark beetles and wood-boring beetles make their homes in dead or dying trees. While these insects go dormant in cold weather, they are an easy food source for woodpeckers.

The reason that these sparrow-sized black and white woodpeckers can bang their heads against a tree all day is because the have muscles in their skulls that help to cushion the blows from the pounding. A woodpecker’s sharp beak is directly connected to its skull, further dissipating the force of blows against a tree.

After making a hole with their sharp bills, woodpeckers use their long sticky tongues to pull bugs out of the tree. Woodpecker tongues go from their nostrils, over the top of the woodpecker’s skull and comes out through the mouth. This long tongue can fold up like a accordion for storage.

Their tails also help them peck into trees. Woodpecker tails include stiff “spine” feathers that they can use to balance themselves against the trunk of a tree when they are hammering. If they didn’t have that “kickstand” tail, a woodpecker might fall over backwards when it rears back to pound into a tree.

So the next time you are out for a walk, look around for downy woodpeckers or the round holes they peck in trees. You’ll be surprised by what you find.