Bird shenannigans

[altivo]

We have plenty of woodpeckers here. The downy are the most frequent, but there are a lot of large red bellied woodpeckers too, and an occasional hairy. I've seen red headed woodpeckers, usually at this time of year, but they seem to just pass through. Generally I see them inspecting tree cavities but I guess none suit their tastes. Only once have I seen one land on a feeder, until tonight.

While we were eating dinner a squawky-chattery fight erupted outside and we both saw a red headed woodpecker chase a red bellied off a feeder that had sunflower seeds in it. As we continued to watch, we saw this repeated many times. A red bellied would land on a feeder, and a large red headed would descend from up in the trees and chase it off, chattering angrily. Once he chased a bluejay away, but the rest of the time it was only red bellied woodpeckers who were targeted. Cardinals, blackbirds, and the smaller woodpeckers were ignored.

This is the first time that Gary has put shelled peanuts out, and sure enough, that was what this bird (or pair of birds, I think there may have been two, one larger than the other) were after. A red headed woodpecker would come and take a peanut away, only to return in a couple of minutes and take another.

I had no idea the red heads were so aggressive or territorial. The bullying continued for a good half hour, until it got pretty dark outside.

Comments

[luperion.livejournal.com]

I like red headed hairy things. Guys usually, and with peckers. ^_^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*snorts* You naughty wuff. *snicker*

[doug-taron.livejournal.com]

So Marjorie Main was right "Them big, strong, red-headed men... they're fierce!"

I've seen the red-headed woodpeckers being very territorial out at the Fen, but they are clearly defending nest cavities there. It will be interesting to see if the peanuts are the magic ingredient that keeps them around your place.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It would be interesting if there were as many red headed men as there are woodpeckers...

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

Avians are NOTORIOUSLY heterosexual and notoriously
monogomous. They tend to fight to the death for
there mate.

No more peanuts!

XD

Not quite

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Actually, no and no. SOME birds are that way, others are not. Red winged blackbirds, for instance, are polygamous. Sparrows are promiscuous. And, as we've seen in the news in recent years, some penguins form homosexual attachments as couples even in the presence of available females.

Cardinals are notable for both their loyalty and their protectiveness toward their mates. Geese and swans are famous for their monogamy, I'll grant you that. Yet other waterfowl can be quite promiscuous. Having observed the behavior of domestic ducks, I can tell you it is downright squalid. ;p

We are keeping the peanut supply available to see what develops. I think we will mix in raisins as well.

Re: Not quite

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

*eeeps!*

*The birds look at him and shrug*

*facepaws*

Re: Not quite

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I didn't mean to break any bubbles, but it's true. I don't know what the behavior of woodpeckers, or more specifically the red headed ones is.

This looked like a fight over food though. We have many feeders within view of the house, and in general the area there is treated as no-man's-land by most birds. Occasionally a bluejay or grackle gets pushy and chases away other birds, but for the most part they tolerate each other.

Even male cardinals, who are normally quite territorial, will come in to feed in multiples. They only chase each other if they think they perceive a direct move on their mate.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

This is why I stopped feeding the Rainbow Lorikeets at my house as they'd end up just fighting all the time so I said to them, "If you can't behave over the food you're not getting any"

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We have so many feeding stations that we rarely see this sort of aggression. It was quite exceptional, but they haven't been back either. I suspect, as usual, that the red headed woodpeckers were just passing through.