Woodpecker migratory bird or not? Looking for answers to these and other questions

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Each of us had the opportunity to hear the sound of a woodpecker. When you watch this nimble multi-colored bird, you wonder how such a small body has enough strength to hammer a tree with such speed and zeal. What do we know about this feathered worker? Is the woodpecker a migratory bird or not? Where does he live? What does it eat besides insects? How does it reproduce? The answers to all these questions, as well as photographs of a beautiful and useful bird are presented in the article. Happy reading and viewing!

Appearance

The woodpecker family consists of 30 species of birds. They live almost all over the globe, except for Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Antarctica. The most common representative of this family in Russia is the spotted woodpecker. Migratory bird or not, we will learn about this later, but for now let's talk about its external features.

You can recognize the spotted woodpecker by its color: black and white body and wings, red "cap" on the head and the same color feathers on the lower part of the tail. The paws of the bird are short, not adapted to movement on the ground. But the structure of the limbs (thin, long, spread fingers) allows the feathered one to cling well to the tree trunk. Hooked sharp claws cling well to the bark, which allows the bird to hold firmly on a vertical surface. The beak is chisel-shaped. Due to this structure of this part of the body, the woodpecker easily breaks off the particles of the trunk and hammers the wood. The speed of the beak hits up to 10 times per second.

Where does he live?

The woodpecker is a forest bird. This fact is confirmed by the entire literature of an encyclopedic nature. But it cannot be said that this species of birds lives only in the forest. It would be more correct to note that this is a wild bird that lives where there are trees. In addition to the forest, we can observe motley woodpeckers in almost every city yard and park. Birds of this species settle in hollows, which they themselves hollow in tree trunks in order to lay eggs in them and hatch chicks. Is the woodpecker a wintering or migratory bird? We will find out about this after we get acquainted with the information about what the representatives of this species of birds eat.

What does the woodpecker eat?

This bird is omnivorous. In the warm season, the main delicacy for her are insects: caterpillars, ants, spiders, various beetles. Woodpeckers that live near water bodies can eat crustaceans and small snails. There are also cases when birds of this species feed on eggs and chicks of small breeds of wild birds (sparrows, tits). In settlements, woodpeckers can be observed in landfills, where they eat food waste. In the cold season, the woodpecker, a useful bird, regales itself on the seeds of plants, mainly coniferous trees. In the spring, representatives of this genus of birds love to pamper themselves with birch sap. They punch a hole in the bark of a tree until the sweet liquid drips and then drink it.

How does a woodpecker winter?

From the above information about what the bird eats in the cold season, we can conclude that the woodpecker is a wintering bird. And this is absolutely true. The woodpecker lives where he was born. And if he was born where winter happens, it means that in that place he waits for it. The migration of birds of this species can be over short distances, only during severe frosts. Then woodpeckers can migrate from the forest closer to settlements. With food at this time it is very difficult for them. In snowy winters, it is almost impossible to find food for birds. It is for this reason that woodpeckers can fly to human habitation. Caring people feed these, however, as well as other wintering birds, hanging feeders with food on trees and roofs of houses. With the onset of the first warm days, the feathered "snitches" either return to their habitats again, or take root forever in the vicinity of the settlement.

Reproduction

So, is the woodpecker a migratory bird or not? Answeryou learned this question, and then we’ll talk about how their breeding season goes. At the end of winter, representatives of this genus of birds gather in small flocks. Males make loud crackling sounds, thus inviting females to mate. When a pair has formed, they choose a tree and begin to equip the nesting site. In April-May, the female woodpecker lays eggs in the amount of 3 to 8 pieces. The pair incubate them alternately. Chicks appear on the 15th day. For another month, the babies remain in the hollow, where the male and female bring food. By the end of July, the fledglings begin to learn to fly, but before that they independently emerge from the hollow and move along the tree, firmly clinging to the bark with their sharp claws. Parent woodpeckers take care of their children until the end of the summer, until they learn to fly confidently, independently get their own food. After this, there comes a period when all representatives of the feathered family scatter, and each of them begins to live separately. The next spring, the breeding cycle begins again.

Interesting fact

In a conversation about whether a woodpecker is a migratory bird or not, how this representative of the feathered world lives and what it eats, I would like to recall one more of its names - a forest orderly. Why is it called that way? Because it destroys harmful insects - each of us will say. The answer is correct, but not entirely complete. The woodpecker hammers only diseased trees. You will not see it on young he althy plants. On a live green tree, he will peck only in the place where it is sick. SoIn this way, the bird eliminates the focus of the disease and protects the plant from further damage. Here he is, a little feathered forest orderly!