NY HARBOR NATURE
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Welcome to NY Harbor

Drumming Downy Woodpeckers

4/7/2017

4 Comments

 
Picture
​Increasing daylight and ever slowly warmer temperatures are starting to stimulate downy woodpeckers, the smallest of eastern woodpeckers, around New York Harbor to enter into another breeding season. The birds are busy drumming or making noise to advertise their nesting territory to rival woodpeckers. The sound of a woodpecker drumming or rapidly pecking on an object tells other nearby woodpecker to move on - this area has already been taken in the neighborhood.
 
But the drumming doesn’t stop here. Downys need to eat. They will peck into trees, logs, fence posts, and even utility poles to gobble up grubs, ants, and other wood-boring insects, which provide high levels of protein for breeding birds. Tree sap is also a popular food in the spring when few other foods are available.
 
In addition, downy woodpeckers will drum to make nest cavities in a tree. A bird will drill a hole in a dead or live tree about 5-50 feet above ground, which will eventually make a nice home for a female woodpecker to lay and incubate 4-5 white eggs.
 
Does all this constant motion hurt a bird’s head? At the very least does a little woodpecker get a headache from the banging?
 
Drumming is actually a really important activity for a woodpecker. These long-billed birds are not songbirds and don’t have a distinctive song to sing to attract a mate or advertise a nesting territory. They often must drum to communicate, especially over long distances. The strength and loudness of a drumming sound will help to advertise the health and dominance of a woodpecker who is making these exceptional woodland sounds.
 
If you listen carefully, each species of a woodpecker has a different and unique drumming sound. According to Sibley Guides, “the drum of a hairy woodpecker is extremely fast and buzzing, with at least 25 taps per second, but has long pauses of 20 seconds or more between drums. Downy Woodpecker drums at a slower rate, only about 15 taps per second, and drums frequently, often with pauses of only a few seconds between each drum.”
 
Luckily, woodpeckers do not get a headache from drumming. They have evolved nicely to deal with all the banging and battering to their heads. The birds have special physical adaptations, such as extra cushioning in their skull that allows them to peck quickly and repeatedly on hard objects without hurting themselves.
 
The Cornel Lab of Ornithology tells us that woodpeckers “have thickened skulls and powerful neck muscles that enable them to deliver sharp blows without damaging their organs.” A woodpecker's bill is also thick, straight and sturdy to withstand drumming impacts. It's able to drum for long periods of time without any pain.
 
For woodpeckers this spring, it’s all about the drumming. The louder the better. 
4 Comments
assignmentgeek link
2/24/2019 11:47:54 pm

Woodpeckers is one of the most beautiful bird and its voice is really amazing when they drumming the trees with their beaks. This bird mostly found in the forests or in the fields where they made their houses for their selves.

Reply
proassignmenthelp link
8/20/2019 03:14:56 am

Here I am sharing a very useful resource for students looking for assignment help. Yes it is Proassignmenthelp providing all sort of assignment writing in various subjects like as : Electrical engineering assignment help , electronics assignment help , MATLAB assignment help , management assignment help , etc.

Reply
programmingshark link
9/12/2019 04:36:17 am

Here I am sharing wonderful platform for students in Australia , US and UK seeking for <a href="https://programmingshark.com/">programming assignment help</a>. This is Programmingshark.com , world's no1 programming help company since 2014. They cover almost all wide range of programming subjects, here you go:
<a href="https://programmingshark.com/c-programming-assignment-help.php">C Programming Assignment Help</a> , <a href="https://programmingshark.com/c-plus-plus-programming-assignment-help.php">C++ Programming Assignment Help</a> , <a href="https://programmingshark.com/python-programming-assignment-help.php">Python Programming Assignment Help</a> , <a href="https://programmingshark.com/r-programming-assignment-help.php">R Programming Assignment Help</a> , and <a href="https://programmingshark.com/matlab-assignment-help.php">MATLAB Assignment Help</a> . Visit now!

Reply
MATLAB solutions link
9/18/2019 01:55:09 am

It’s good to share information with others. I am also sharing something very important for students seeking <a href="https://www.matlabsolutions.com/matlab-assignment-help.php">MATLAB Assignment Help</a>. Visit MatlabSolutions and get best assistance in your MATLAB, Simulink Assignments and Projects.

You can also get <a href="https://cdrreportsaustralia.com/">CDR Report Engineers Australia</a> if you look to immigrate to Australia.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    STOP THE WILLIAMS FRACKED GAS PIPELINE THROUGH NY HARBOR!
    MY TOP 5 FAVORITE BOOKS ABOUT NY HARBOR

    1. Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City by Leslie Day

    2.Heartbeats in the Muck by John Waldman

    3. The Fisheries of Raritan Bay by Clyde L. MacKenzie Jr. 

    4. Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan by Phillip Lopate

    5. The Bottom of the Harbor by Joseph Mitchell
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Welcome to NY Harbor