- Where does the woodpecker live?
Although, of course, modern people often have a slightly different association with the amazing forest birds woodpeckers - the annoying and boring nature of some human characters is often compared with our today's feathered hero. In fact, woodpeckers are not annoying birds at all, but very useful ones. It’s not for nothing that our observant ancestors called the woodpecker “forest doctor.” In fairy tales, he often appears as a kind, persistent and hardworking character, however, this is what he is in nature, a real one. "friend of trees" After all, tirelessly pecking them with his beak, he at the same time cleans the trees from various insects harmful to them: termites, aphids, etc.
Woodpecker: description, structure, characteristics. What does a woodpecker look like?
The woodpecker family belongs to a large group of birds known for their ability to chisel trees with their beaks. Close relatives of woodpeckers are also toucans, barnacles and honeyguides.
The average body length of a woodpecker is 25 cm, the average weight of a woodpecker is 100 g, although, of course, there are exceptions, for example, there are larger species of woodpeckers, such as the American royal woodpecker, which is almost 60 cm long and weighs 600 g. And the most a small gold-loving woodpecker, its size is almost similar to
hummingbird, its length is only 8 cm and its weight is 7 grams.
The woodpecker's body seems somewhat elongated, thanks to the medium-length tail and head, which continues the length of the body. The woodpecker's beak is chisel-shaped, and it is also sharp and durable. The nostrils of woodpeckers are protected by special fibers that prevent wood shavings from getting inside during chiselling. Just like the skull of woodpeckers has a special porous structure that protects the bird’s brain from concussion.
The woodpecker's wings are of medium length and also sharp; this structure of their wings helps these forest birds maneuver between trees with ease. The woodpecker's wingspan is 45-49 cm.
Woodpecker in flight.
The woodpecker's paws are short and four-toed (with the exception of the three-toed woodpecker), two fingers are directed forward and two are directed back; this structure of the woodpecker's paws helps it to confidently stay on the vertical surfaces of trees and move along them.
The woodpecker's plumage is rigid and fits tightly to the body. The color of woodpeckers is very diverse, everything depends on the type of a particular bird; there are woodpeckers with checkerboard black and white colors, variegated, red, and golden.
Woodpecker - message report
The woodpecker is a small bird, about the size of two palms.
There are about 220 species of the woodpecker family. One of the brightest representatives of the order is the Great Spotted Woodpecker. The common spotted woodpecker is slightly larger than a blackbird. The body is elongated. The beak is oblong in appearance. The wings are also small, allowing the woodpecker to maneuver in the thickets. There is a bright spot on the wings, the back is black, the flank is whitish, the head feathers of young individuals are red, the breast is motley, the occipital region of males is distinguished by a red spot on the feathers. The color under the tail is pink.
The woodpecker's legs are short; it likes to crawl along trunks and hang upside down from branches. The toes have very sharp and tenacious claws, thanks to which the woodpecker holds securely on tree trunks. The woodpecker has a very hard tail, which provides it with good support on the trunk when struck with its beak. The woodpecker's beats are very rhythmic and frequent, resembling the sound of a drum roll. The woodpecker has additional fluids and sinuses that absorb blows from its beak.
The woodpecker usually lives in coniferous forests. The woodpecker feeds on insects in the summer and collects seeds from coniferous trees in the winter.
In the forest area there are old stumps and rotten trunks. It is in their cracks that the woodpecker inserts cones and acorns so that they can be opened more conveniently. Near the trunk, at the bottom, exfoliated particles of cones and acorns accumulate, which form piles characteristic of the woodpecker’s habitat.
The woodpecker drinks water and birch sap, making small wounds in the bark on the trunks. The woodpecker also destroys sparrow nests and eats their eggs and chicks. The woodpecker, using its beak and long thin tongue, removes bark beetle larvae and insects from under rotten areas of bark. When struck by its beak, it closes its eyes, protecting them from flying chips and wood dust. The structure of the nose does not allow chips to get inside.
Woodpeckers love moist air and are located near bodies of water. It is there that the flora is most suitable for habitat, because in the presence of moisture, tree trunks begin to rot, and insects infest them. And therefore more food for woodpeckers.
Woodpecker nests can be found in hollows of aspen or alder trees. The woodpecker collects small pieces of bark and wood for nests.
To cover the entrance hole to the hollow, woodpeckers use the tinder fungus.
Male woodpeckers begin to compete in the spring. To do this, they choose the driest trunks, which emit a loud and ringing sound when they knock with their beaks.
A woodpecker brood clutch consists of 5-7 white eggs.
The woodpecker lays eggs around the end of spring. The chicks appear in early summer. In mid-summer, the chicks can already fly independently. The woodpecker remains to spend the winter in its native land. Sometimes, woodpeckers can only move short distances to neighboring forests, where there will be more food for them all winter. The woodpecker is very useful for people, as it works all year to destroy pests.
What does a woodpecker eat and why does a woodpecker knock on wood?
In fact, the woodpecker’s diet and its “trademark” chiselling on trees are related to each other in the most direct way. Yes, this is the simple way woodpeckers get their food. The basis of their diet is various insects and larvae that live in the depths of trees: termites, ants, aphids, bark beetles. Moreover, interestingly, such activity of woodpeckers also benefits trees, because these birds rid them of pests.
Woodpeckers always unerringly choose diseased trees infested with pests as trees for chiselling, which is why they nicknamed our feathered hero the “forest doctor.” How do woodpeckers recognize such trees? The fact is that nature has endowed these birds with very fine hearing, and woodpeckers are able to hear the slightest creaking noise made by the stings of pests inside trees.
But let's return to the food of woodpeckers; in addition to harmful insects, woodpeckers are not averse to eating berries, plant seeds, and nuts obtained from the cones of coniferous trees.
Report about Woodpecker
Every time we find ourselves in the forest, we hear a characteristic knocking on a tree. The culprit of these sounds is the woodpecker.
There are a huge number of woodpeckers of different sizes and colors in the world. But they are united by one quality - intelligence. Woodpeckers, by knocking on the bark of a tree, find out the location of insects in this way, after which they pull them out and eat them. Woodpeckers especially love larvae and ants. Woodpeckers have a very long and thin tongue. Why is he like this to them? And in order to use this tongue to pull out tree pests. That is why woodpeckers are called “forest doctors.”
Mid-spring is a particularly important time for woodpeckers. They choose a tree that is slightly rotten, but nevertheless attractive, and begin to hollow out a home in it. It takes a woodpecker a lot of time to build such a “nest”. He works two to three hours a day without stopping. After the woodpecker finally leaves its home, other birds move into this hollow. That is, we see that the woodpecker not only helps the trees, ridding them of pests, but also provides other forest residents with comfortable housing.
Woodpeckers are mostly not large birds, only about two palms in size. But there are also large individuals in nature, such as American Royal Woodpeckers. Their sizes often exceed half a meter. Woodpeckers have elongated bodies, sharp and strong beaks, ready to knock on wood for many hours. Woodpeckers have small feet and wings, so the birds can fly between branches without any problems. Woodpeckers can also crawl up trees and hang upside down on them.
While doing its main job, that is, knocking on wood, the woodpecker has to close its eyes, protecting them from the ingress of wood chips and dust. Particular attention can be paid to the bird's beak; it is created in such a way that wood shavings do not fall into it.
Woodpeckers can be found all over the world. Even taking our country as an example, we can count more than 10 species of these birds. Woodpeckers prefer to live in forests, near rivers and lakes. This is due not only to the fact that woodpeckers love humidity, but also to the fact that trees near bodies of water tend to rot more often. And once they rot, they become infested with insects, which the woodpecker loves to feast on. In addition to insects, woodpeckers can also feed on nuts and plant fruits.
The woodpecker brings great benefits to the forest and its inhabitants. In just one day, a woodpecker is able to find and destroy more than 800 insects harmful to a tree. And this is just one woodpecker, there are many thousands of them in the forest. Other birds do not have the ability to crush the bark and get food from there. The woodpecker helps them in this, because with its beak it opens the secret loopholes of insects, and thereby allows others to get to the treasured food. We can say that it is thanks to the woodpecker that the struggle between birds and small pests begins.
If you find yourself in the forest again and hear the characteristic “knock-knock-knock”, then thank this kind bird, which is saving the forest with its backbreaking work. Even when feasting on birch sap, he does it carefully, trying not to harm the tree. The activities of this bird often remain unnoticed and underestimated, but the woodpecker is truly one of those birds thanks to which our nature is still alive and well.
Woodpecker lifestyle
Woodpeckers are sedentary birds, that is, they live mainly in the same territory. They often live alone and only during the nesting period they live in pairs of male + female.
Woodpeckers spend most of their time studying trees for the presence of insects that are tasty for these birds. Flying from tree to tree, the woodpecker first sits at the bottom and then begins to gradually rise upward. Woodpeckers practically do not descend to the ground; in general, they do not feel comfortable on horizontal surfaces, whereas a vertical position on a tree is much more familiar to them; by the way, woodpeckers even sleep in this position at night.
The means of communication among woodpeckers is the drumbeat, beaten out by their beaks; it also serves to mark the boundaries of the territory of a particular woodpecker and to attract a partner during the mating season.
Woodpecker is a useful bird
Woodpecker chicks grow on the smooth bottom of the nest.
This causes them to develop calluses on their heels. Growing up, young birds deftly cling to the walls with their sharp claws and crawl out of the nest. Many animals should be grateful to the woodpecker for the shelter it provided. Tit, flycatcher, redstart, nuthatch, and jay live in the hollows left by him. And not only birds, but also animals: bats, martens and even squirrels.
The habitat of woodpeckers is all of Eurasia and North Africa. They live mainly in tall forests. But they are also found in gardens, parks, and public gardens. They feed on harmful insects by hollowing them out of tree bark. The woodpecker's food consists of bark beetles, beetles, butterflies, their larvae and ants. The bird specifically selects an infected, diseased tree in which pests have settled en masse, and pulls them out with its long chisel-shaped beak.
Thanks to such careful treatment, the tree soon recovers. Moreover, the activity of feathered drummers continues all year round. This is why the woodpecker is a useful bird.
Types of woodpeckers, photos and names
In total, there are more than 200 species of woodpeckers in nature; below we will describe the most interesting of them.
Great Pileated Woodpecker
Despite its name, the great sharp-winged woodpecker is not that big, its length is 14-16 cm, weight 20-30 grams. It is variegated in color; males have several red feathers on their sides. Lives in East and Southeast Asia.
common woodpecker
The great spotted woodpecker is the most common member of the woodpecker family. It lives over a wide geographic range, including almost all of Eurasia, from the forests of England to the forests of Japan. These woodpeckers are also being introduced into our Ukrainian forests. They can be distinguished by their color; the spotted woodpecker has black and white colors, which are combined with a bright red undertail, which gives the bird a mottled appearance. Some woodpeckers of this species also have a red head, a kind of “red cap”.
Syrian woodpecker
Initially, the Syrian woodpecker was distributed exclusively in the Middle East, but in the Middle Ages these birds penetrated into the Balkans and Eastern Europe (including these woodpeckers also live in Ukraine). In its appearance and habits it is very similar to an ordinary woodpecker, it is distinguished only by a number of small differences: a longer beak, on the sides of the belly the Syrian woodpecker has developed streaks. Also, the common spotted woodpecker has two white spots between the eye and shoulder; in the Syrian woodpecker, these two spots are merged into one large one.
White-backed Woodpecker
This is another woodpecker that lives in the forest zone of Eurasia. It is of medium size, its body length is 26-31 cm with a weight of 100-130 g. It also differs from other woodpeckers in having a slightly longer neck and an angular head. The upper part of the back of these woodpeckers is black, the lower part is white. Also, males have a red cap on the brand, while females have a black cap.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
This woodpecker is distinguished by its red belly coloration, hence its name. Also known as the red-necked woodpecker. This species of woodpecker lives in Southeast Asia. It is a very small representative of the woodpecker family, its body length is 200-250 mm, weight 50-70 g.
Black woodpecker (Zhelna)
Also known as the great black woodpecker, one of the largest representatives of woodpeckers, its body length is 42-49 cm, with a weight of 250-450 g. It also lives in the forest zone of Eurasia, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. This woodpecker is very easy to identify by its appearance: a bird with black plumage and a red cap on its head will be a black woodpecker.
OBSERVATIONS OF THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a common bird. His knocking, as well as his rattling voice, can often be heard in the forest. But seeing it is not easy - to do this you need to look at large old trees for a long time. If you move closer unnoticed, you will see red feathers on the underside of the bird's tail. A red spot on the head indicates that this is a male. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chick can be mistaken for a Medium Spotted Woodpecker, which has the same red cap on its head, only without the black border. The European spotted woodpecker is an inhabitant of mixed lowland forests. It differs from the large woodpecker in its smaller size and faster shot.
Woodpecker breeding
The mating season for woodpeckers begins in the spring. During this period, males begin to actively attract females with their trills. When their pairs have already been formed, the birds begin to build a nesting hollow, and work in turns. The place where their chicks are destined to be born is carefully masked by branches from predators.
A female woodpecker has from 3 to 7 eggs, which she incubates for 15 days. Then chicks, small woodpeckers, begin to hatch from them, they are completely helpless: naked, blind and deaf. But already during the first month they become covered with feathers, begin to see clearly and even squeal. Not yet able to fly, they can nevertheless actively run along the trunk. And after a year, woodpeckers become sexually mature adult birds.
A story about a woodpecker
One spring I decided to make maple syrup. I went to the garden where young maples grow to collect sweet juice from them. I look - a woodpecker flew up to a young maple tree: “Knock!” Knock. “It’s no good to scare away a bird busy with its bird chores. And I stand there, waiting for her to fly to another tree.
But the woodpecker is in no hurry - he has hollowed out the bark and is feasting on maple sap. Look, he knows that maple sap is no worse than birch sap. Finally, he flew away. But at the same moment, out of nowhere, two sparrows appeared. They fiddle around with the maple tree, take turns drinking the juice, chirping contentedly - thanking the woodpecker for the treat.
It was my turn. I broke off a branch and stuck it into the hole that the woodpecker had made. The juice drips, drips, drips down the branch...
Source
Woodpecker, video
And in conclusion, we suggest looking at a woodpecker in the wild and listening to its trill.
Author: Pavel Chaika, editor-in-chief of Poznavaika magazine
When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments on the article. You can also write your wish/question/suggestion to my email [email protected] or Facebook, with respect, the author.
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This article is available in English - Woodpecker - Tireless Forest Worker.
