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Home My WebLink AboutJanuary 01, 2004 - Saga of a small survior The Suffolk Times • January 1, 2004 a a NE oF�rHE Mos�' ascmatmg things Barbara and I sat and watched recent ly was a narrow escape by a downy O � S m a woodpecker.The downy woodpecker is the smallest of our black-and-white woodpeckers;the next larger one that looks quite similar is the hairy wood- pecker.Then we have the red-bellied � woodpecker and ��o� the yellow-shaft- �� F�(:V$ ed flicker,which ON are both about the size of a NATURE small robin. by Paul But let me tell �p�/N�,�'�� '� Stoutenburgh about our 1itt��: � ,�/�"� r��, �' down Like all ,'�� ,��, � � y ��i, �M�p�,,u, ,,,'�ji�� -'. WOOC1p2CIC0TS lL %'�q�, p��y�y� r' enjoys suet.The feeder it likes best is ��' " '" r, ti"r�/�''w i /��, . . i,, ' `' a tube-like affa�r stuffed with suet. � •��,, � '��"�� , �� Flere it can ding and peck through the �;"' ��,,- �w� ; �� ' . g g �� '�;'�°�;� , I � ��yr��i��n ;,;,�%�, small wire mesh to et at the hi h- � u encrgy food that's so impartant on ��1�� '� z �µ � � thcsc cold wintry days. ��'u„ �� r�i'`"�,�"�� ,, �1�1 i�n il�� A� Barbara and I ate breakfast �� i' ��" �� a� �� i�r`� r, ,�„„ , �� , � fl�OIlP�S1C�P. Ol1T'P1CtUT'0 W111C�OW W2 l�l"�� d w�!i'�� l�i� � ll�j��l�`i ' ylv 4r �. � h��lGii �'� ��ii , could see the little downy woodpecke l�''��y��', ��lu�',�;i�" '��,r a'�� ,�� ,� �� W�IS 1�50 E'II�Oylllg 1tS bTe�llCfaSt.�7817 ��%/ 7/r/�� %u �"!'. ��,� �'� p all of a sudden,a sharp-shinned hawk ;� '��'�% �'�'� � ,a �� ;�� flew in and lit,believe it ar not,not ', „,,,�';,� � ,'�, , , % „ ,,,' ;' morc than eight or 10 inches above � ��"� r " � ��r,r,' u;�' where the woodpecker was feeding. ��' '��, �� ` ,,,�! %"�� , ��h��llq�� l i �� i �/l�r�l ' �� i �% i� This hawk is a terror to all small birds. �i, ��u+ �� ' ' �'�` ,� ,,i,;��° �,",ll�l4r��, ,�� ll�� l The downy immediately froze like a , °��,��/�,�;yu ,�i;,�'"'', r", " +°� ��; ,�H� �� stick against the feeder.We watched „ ��""„�"� i r„^rr �,��ti;�� , �� ,�,�i,�� 'w as this unbelievable drama played o�it � °' / ; 9�� ' 1 wF y�rry�r✓ ' � hefore us—no more than twelve fcet �p, �'' , � � � , ,�j�/��' away. '°�,�'� �� ,��.,� � � ,� ��` ', r�%�y� � � �� . � A��Y�I b '. We could see those searching eyes �, � ,� � of the sharp-shinned hawk as it ��° �� , "' �� ry��'�'� °� �,n�du� ,u,'� � � • � � ,�, �H� looked around for a likely victim, "�� '�'� ��'" �� '� while all the time it was unaware ol' �"�' '!'"��"�„�� ' the little woodpecker below,which ' � ��'� ' I'm sure was trembling for its life.The �;�" µ, � hawk stayed searching far probably "�'"'�""" " �'� , , , � ,, y five or six minutes,maybe longer,lon� � �� , � � �y enou h for Barbara to et the camera � '°''""�M�' '� g g , � �,a ,� rry and get a few pictures.The hawk was �� b ,�,,, �� '��;,, � looking for a weak bird that was not ��"t��,� /,, ",�� as sharp or alert as the others and � "' ^'�0 ' �� , r could be taken more easily. � ��N�� R Luckily,all the birds feeding on or , ��'�'�i"""�� ry ��yy��,�� around our patio had taken to the �� '��,�„ ' � ncarby bushes as soon as the hawk _ a ��ti"�" S}lOW�C�Uj�.Seelrig Il0 eflSy�Cl�l,ille Times/Ftcview photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh hawk flew away in disgust,not know- This sharp-shinned hawk flew in to where we were feed- ing it had been standing right above ing birds on our patio. He's a terror to all small birds. If what could have been its morning you see no birds around your feeder, it could be he has meal.Never have I seen nature's laws scared them away. The arrow indicates the little wood- oi'protection work so perfectly. pecker that didn't hear the signal to scram. Evidently our little woodpecker had lcarneci its lesson oP survival well for it stayecl frozen to thc fecder for anoth- Aftcr the recent snow- storm and howling winds we er Five minutes before it, take away thal nutrient factory that went back to the Point to see too,flew away. gocs on and on and kecps us from if we could find our tern but, Downy woodpeckers are being buried under the forest debris sorry to say,we couldn't.Just birds that can survive that falls to the ground each year. because we weren't able to through the winter by eat- Some might wonder where these locate it doesn't mean it was- ing insect eggs,larvae, birds go at night.The woodpeckers n't there.It did give us a sad liibernating beetles,grubs, and other cavity nesters will find a I'celing for this little fellow etc.,that live in ar on dead hollow in a tree,an old bird box or a that up to now had been ablc broken limb where there is a crevicc to make it.We'll probably trees.The birds often locate ncver know what ha ened thcir prey by sound.The that they can get into.Once inside, PP Fascinating thing about they fa11 into a deep sleep,their heart t�� it. woodpeckers is their bill rate drops to conserve energy,and The common tern nests up and tongue.The bill is chis- they pass the night in relative comi'oi-t, here in the summertime.Onc el-like,in contrast to a only to wake up the next morning to of the largest colonies on thc pointed bill that would get again eke out a living by pecking away Eastern seaboard is on Gull stuck as the woodpecker at our dead trees for their morning [sland,one of the islands east worked its way into the meal. of Orient Point.Tf�is is a wood.The tongue has A few weeks ago,you remember, I research station where Helen evolved into something spoke about a hummingbird that was I layes,through the Museum quite unique.In some still visiting Ruth Oliva's feeder in ��Natural History in New woodpeckers this tongue Orient.That tiny bird should have York,has been monitoring when extended can reach gone south months ago,and so it is tcrns for years.We have a up to five inches into every once in a while we find a bird small colony of terns on the crcvices and tunnels to pull that seems to be out of place.This sand spit in Southold oppo- c�ut its prey.The specially happened again just last week when site Port of Egypt.Terns are designed tip has a sticky Boh Gloria of Orient called me an�1 having a difficult time substance and barbs at its said he had seen a couple of tet-n� ��ut hccausc thcy like to nest on sandy cnd that enables it to pull at the Point by the ferry dock.7�h,�t beaches and,of course,sandy beaches out its unsuspecting prey was most uc�usual,for the terns h��l are the places that people like to go. quite easily.And so their lcft I�or warmer climates long agc�. '�o we have a problem during the nest- f'ood supply is always thei-c, "I crns are the small whitish bir�ls i ng season.Brighter days are ahead provided there are dead that we see through the summertimr ��»'most terns that took their ances- trecs around. throughout our waters.They are tllc 1 r<il cue to migrate south.They will Speaking of dead trees, I fishcrman's friend,for they often show �P��d the winter there only to return oFtcn think of the person where fish are feeding—the big fish i��xt spring to spend the summer who was anxious to develop driving the smaller baitfish to the sur- �lclighting our waters with their dainty Robins Island years ago. facc,where the terns dive and pick �7ight and dazzling dives. 7'I�cre was a group of us them up. I can remember helping to band tryii�g to do just the oppo- tcrns over in Moriches Bay on the I wanted to get a look at sanci 1�1ats.At that time there was an sitc,and that was to pre- these record-late terns,so scrve Robins Island.We extensive tern colony there and I was Barbara and I headed down privileged to help Gil Raynor with his had a lively discussion on to the Point.Sure enough, banding efforts.The birds would divc- the pros and cons of prescr- after some searching we bomb us because we were intrudin 7 vation vs.development. I'll � nevcr farget when the spotted one of the terns at on their nesting territory.Often they'd the end of a jetty.Why this strike us and sometimes even draw developer got up and said, tern stayed around while all "7'here is nothing over blood.We soon learned to wear hats. its comrades had long since Like many animals and birds when there but a lot of dead trees." gone south,no one knows. Those dead trees not only supply they get excited,they excrete their Some of these migrating waste.So they not only dive-bombed the woodpeckers and other birds like terns keep going all the way chickadees,titmice,brown creepers, us but they would splash us with their to Argentina.Others end whitewash. nuthatches and others with insects of their winter migration in the all kinds but also,when the trees fall The little meta] numbered band put to the ground,they become host to Caribbean and along the on the leg of a bird gives us much upper reaches of South information.One of the things it tells bacteria,fungi and insects,etc.When America.Wherever there are put all together they decompose the us is where these birds migrate.That is small fish,you'll find the how we know some terns migrate fallen trees and convert them into rich f�i�i�� fccclin��. soil,which is nature's way ol'recyclin�� each year as far as lower Argentina. her debris.And so the downed trees Down there people also capture and and the standing dead trees are an band them and report their findings to integral part of the warkings of a for- a central collecting office here in thc est.When we removc thcm and make United States.It's a Fascinating worlci rvcrything manicurcci <in�l ��rctty.wc wc livc in.The more we know aboul it,thc more we will enjoy it.