In mid-April, we found a Red-headed Woodpecker on Hunter Island in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. We watched as the bird constantly hammered away, inches from a Red-bellied Woodpecker cavity. The Red-bellied female would poke her head out of the cavity and use her bill to sometimes chase the Red-headed. Eventually the male Red-bellied would return and attack the Red-headed. who would immediately fly away. Minutes later the Red-headed would return and the whole cycle would begin again. We watched this on many occasions. Nearby were other Red-bellied nests in tree cavities and Flickers nesting as well. For whatever reason, the Red-headed was relentless and continued to hammer away inches away from the one desired cavity.
A local photographer, Bruno Attisani, observed and photographed the Red-headed finally getting into the cavity and removing three eggs. (photo link below) Bruno reports that the Red- headed seemed to be eating the eggs. Four local observers told me they saw a second Red-headed, but I have yet to see it and there are no photos of two of them. It would be great if they nested here. Today I observed the absence of the Red-bellied in the desired cavity and Bruno told me he saw the Red-headed inside excavating it. I stayed a while this morning and noticed the absence of the Flickers and other Red-bellied woodpeckers that occupied/nested in other tree cavities nearby. I also observed the Red-headed going from one tree cavity to another and looking inside. I believe he has driven out all the other nesting woodpeckers from the area and now has the exact tree cavity he wants. It seems that after a month of harassment, his persistence has paid off. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks and if there is indeed a female nearby. He also frequents an area further back in the woods and I wonder if there is already a nest and if he just doesn’t want any competition nearby. Photos: http://www.cityislandbirds.com/Red-headed_Woodpecker.html Jack Rothman cityislandbirds.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
