Aside from an occasional (and easily dissuaded) N. Flicker, I find Y-B
Sapsuckers the only woodpecker with an apparent preference for the
metallic resonance of building gutters and downspouts, testing and
then rejecting perfectly good natural opportunities nearby (good
enough for the downies, hairies and red-bellies, anyway). Their
persistence is admirable, I guess...but not so much at 5 AM.
I wonder if having more than one breeding male in the area results in
the kind of one-upmanship, where in a fit of trial and error one bird
eventually hits upon the loudest possible drumming place--more often
metallic than not--and sticks with it. The question for me is why
other woodpeckers in the territory don't do the same?
Eben McLane
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