Discover Smith Mountain Lake
SPRING 2016
15
14
seeds and berries. They especially like
suet, particularly in winter as the fat
gives them energy and helps keep them
warm during cold months.
The Hairy Woodpecker looks almost
exactly like the Downy, but is larger,
about Robin size, and also has a longer,
thicker beak than the Downy. In fact,
their beak is nearly twice as long.
Downy Woodpeckers are braver and
more curious and will mingle with other
birds, while the Hairy Woodpecker
prefers solitude, lives deeper in the
woods, and does not come as readily to
backyard feeders.
Although the Downy Woodpecker is a
personal favorite, certainly one of the
greatest thrills in bird-watching comes
from spotting the Pileated Woodpecker.
It’s the largest woodpecker in North
America, at over 16 inches in length.
You will likely hear this fellow before
you see him. The Pileated Woodpecker
is the species that inspired the cartoon
character “Woody the Woodpecker”.
They are crow-like in looks and size. The
male has a red crest, crown, forehead,
and mustache, with black and white
stripes on its face and down the side of
its neck. The only red the female has is a
crest. Both have dark beaks. The Pileated
Woodpecker is similar in appearance
to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker of
southeastern swamps, which was last
sighted in the early 1950s, and is now
believed to be extinct in this country. Its
extinction is blamed on logging, which
destroyed its habitat.
No bird is better equipped for climbing
a tree than a woodpecker. With two
toes pointing forward and two pointing
backwards, its feet are ideal for clinging.
Short legs anchor it, and the spiky
central feathers in its tail serve as a
brace against the bark of a tree. When
traveling upward, the woodpecker is a
master. Going down is a different story
- they usually fly. As you can imagine,
they have extremely strong muscles
in their necks that propel their heads
rapidly back and forth. Muscles on their
head act as shock absorbers, and protect
the skull and brain against the impact of
pounding.
Don’t expect to see the Pileated
Woodpecker at your feeder. They are
quite shy, and prefer woods to gardens.
If you have tall, mature trees near your
house and you are near a wooded area,
you might get a visit from one that’s
passing through, as they are plentiful
in wooded areas around the lake. They
love carpenter ants, which make up the
bulk of their diet, and they are noted for
making rectangular holes in tree trunks,
so they can extract ant colonies and
caterpillars with their extremely long
and sticky tongues.
The wood boring insects and larvae that
are the mainstays of a woodpecker’s
diet are available year ‘round, so few
woodpeckers migrate. Their nests,
which both the male and female
hollow out, are typically in the trunks
of trees, and are unlined, except for
wood chips in the bottom. The nest
itself may extend from 6 to 18 inches
beyond the entrance hole. The female
woodpecker lays anywhere from 2 to
8 white eggs. Young woodpeckers can
Friday, May 6th, 2016
11 a.m. - 4p.m.
Saturday, May 7th, 2016
1p.m.- 7p.m.
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Downtown Moneta • Hwy 122 &VA 608
Across fromMayberry Hills • Under the Big Tops
For more info, call
540-721-1203
or
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