The wonders of Hedbom Road has left me studying three hours of video = shot there last Friday, learning more about these birds, reobserving = what I filmed. I was in the constant company of a total of six = Black-backed woodpeckers (2 female s, 4 males) and a male American = Three-toed Woodpecker. The woodpeckers moved around and were at times = very close to us. In editing and studying the footage, I was able to = study behavioral and physical attributes of these birds and made some = anecdotal observations.=20 The BNA states that Black-backed and American Three-toed Woodpeckers are = perhaps the most adapted of the Picoides woodpecker family for = excavating boring insects... I thought they scaled off bark for the most = part. It turns out that these birds' three-toed anatomy allows the back = part of the foot to rise up prior to delivering a blow with its bill. I = observed them just barely holding on with the tips of their claws, like = a climber on a finger-hold on a sheer rock face. When excavating, the = back of the foot (is it a heel?) lifts up noticeably, the bird's head = lifts up and back as it stretches its body and then the bill strikes = downward, usually in a series of 2-5 blows. This allows the body and = legs to accelerate to put the weight of the bird into the blow. These = two species also are the most adapted to cushion the blow within the = skull structure. It flakes and excavates constantly, flaking off a piece = of bark that looks for the entire world like a Wheaties flake; cocks its = head, and darts its slender pale tongue into the dark pin holes that = indicate beetle larvae beneath. The tongue serves to spear the larvae, = yet it extracts them so quickly, it is hard to capture, even on film. I = guess 80% of the larvae it encounters on these larches it is feeding on = are eastern larch beetle larvae, less than =BC inch in length, small = white grubs, but on occasion it gets into bigger prey, where it then = excavates deeper holes, conical in shape, from where it extracts larvae = that are =BE inches long and fatter, big white grubs, sometimes more = than one from a hole.. I do not know what species these might be, but = there are many beetles that are predators on the eastern larch beetle, = so it may well be one of these. Some of the trees have larvae so = abundant that the exposed red bark shows a black stippling from all of = the larval holes. It appears the woodpecker can check three or four = holes in a split second interval. This is the reason for these birds = having such an unsyncopated rhythm when feeding, alternating between the = use of the bill and the use of its tongue. The birds seem preoccupied = with their work at hand that are approachable if you are quiet and make = no sudden moves.=20 We had several Black-backeds and a Three-toed in one small area for over = an hour, yet the only vocal we got occurred when a female Black-backed = suddenly appeared on the tree next to the male Black-backed. The male = assumed a hunched-over position, spread and vibrated his wings, lowered = his head, and emitted a loud call, their "rattle snarl call" which is = very loud, sharp and slightly descending, very unlike any call I have = ever heard from a Minnesota Woodpecker. The female calmly continued = feeding, and the male then proceeded to climb his tree in an animated = fashion, flicking his wings open and shut. He seemed very agitated for = about 10 seconds, and then resumed feeding, seeming to no longer notice = the female. The Black-backed Woodpeckers seemed to pay little attention to the male = American Three-toed, only landing on the same tree twice in the time we = observed. On both occasions, the Three-toed promptly moved to another = tree. We noticed no great attention being paid to the red squirrels = calling, but on two occasions as I watched the Three-toeds, when Red = Crossbills are heard overhead, the woodpecker stopped, craned its neck = to fix one eye skyward, paused until the birds were no longer heard, = then resumed it feeding. The birds were mostly visible feeding from 15 = feet or lower, for some time the birds' tails rested on snow as they fed = at the very bottom of trees. Both species were observed feeding above 40 = feet in tall trees, but this was the exception.=20 I had read that these birds do not typically roost in trees, so I stayed = near the Three-toed until 5:00 PM, and this means it was dark out, = barely enough light to see to walk out. The bird flew out of sight. = Bummer, yet we were rewarded with a hunting Great Gray Owl right along = Hedbom Road; it was totally dark, so I got to check out my friend's = night vision scope and watch the Great Gray take mice in the woodlands. = Red-backed voles? White-footed Mice? Errant Meadow Voles? The owl's eyes = glowed like an Ewok in the coke-bottle-bottom-green light that revealed = it. A great day with great birds in a truly wonderful spot. Good = Birding.
Mark Alt Brooklyn Center, MN
