July wasn't all sad. A pair of downy woodpeckers had hollowed out an alive and well aspen tree near the house, and entered into several weeks of servitude to the tiny tyrants inhabiting their nest. The babies peeped incessantly from the minute they hatched until they left the nest, getting a little louder each day. They were only quiet if it was completely dark outside.
I was hoping to see the babies out of the nest, but I came home from work one afternoon, and the whole family was gone without a trace.
3 comments:
It amazes me how some speciies of birds fledge and leave all on the same day - the little sparrows under my shed roof did that, also.
Human children, on the other hand, seem to take forever to leave the nest! LOL
How interesting! I don't think your bird looks like a Downy Woodpecker but it looks more like a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I know your western birds are different than ours sometimes. I looked it up and the Red-naped Sapsucker is native to your area. They prefer live trees because they eat sap.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-naped_Sapsucker/id
Thanks for the ID, Ruth!
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