Do woodpeckers ever sit on a horizontal limb?
I have not seen this behavior. Has anyone else?
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Yes, I see it all the time here. Nothing more beautiful than the Red Headed Woodpecker sitting anywhere.
Yes, I’ve seen it. I don’t see woodpeckers very often, especially after having moved to the city, but I’m always compelled to watch them when I do. They remind me of my grandfather.
Yes, I saw a pari of them once in a national park just sitting on limbs looking down at me.
You are going to love this answer. for years woodpeckers have attacked the trees surrounding my house. their noise is one of a kind. most woodpeckers are medium to small in size.
NOT SO in my neighborhood. we have MEGA PECKERS!
They weigh at least 1 to 2 pounds and make a noise all their own. instead of the sound of a Mac 10 firing, these big birds sound like this…....“Ca chong, ca chong, ca chong” as they bite for insects.
I have never observed one sitting horizonal on a tree limb.
They’re probably too drunk from pecking.
@john65pennington we used to have one of those, he came back every winter. Just… a huge woodpecker, he had to be nearly 12” tall with a huge red head, you couldn’t miss him. Never seen anything like it before, or since.
I believe that you are describing the Pileated Woodpecker, an enormous and noisy guy.
I remember taking a walk one spring and, seeing wooden shingles raining on the ground, thinking that my neighbor was reroofing his house.
As I got closer, I saw the Pileated ripping off huge slabs of bark in order to make his nest in a very large dying maple tree. In flagrante
When they fly, they look like Pteradactyls
I keep a bird ID book both in the car and in my living room. How can you not want to check this amazing bird out?
edit: This bird cannot be mistaken for any other bird, unless the ivory-billed (thought to be extinct) has really re-appeared in the south.
@gailcalled that’s it! I can’t speak for @john65pennington, but that looks like the bird I’ve seen.
Slightly OT, but just a bit. Two years ago was the first time that I’ve ever seen a hummingbird perched. Up until that point I thought they never stopped moving, only because I had never seen it before.
I have most of the NE native woodpeckers here and they rarely perch on a horizontal branch.
The yellowed-bellied sapsucker and the Northern flicker are systematically pecking square holes under the eaves of my cedar house. In the spring they drum on the sloped roof; it is a noise to wake the dead.
I live in the land of Acorn Woodpeckers and they sit horizontally on the eaves of my house while searching through the rain gutters for fallen acorns and bugs.
Little head bangers, woke me up this morning pounding acorns on my roof. lol
@Gailcalled
Haha..yes, to wake the dead.
Over this way I have seen entire walls packed with acorns when the siding is torn off…amazing work they do!
We have pileated woodpeckers on our property in WA- they are indeed beautiful and awesome birds, and I have seen them perch upright. Here’s a pic I found on Google.
At our present house in CA we have acorn woodpeckers, who also will perch horizontally- here’s a pic.
@Coloma
I’ve seen acorn woodpeckers do that too- they can’t seem to figure out that, when they stick that acorn into the house wall and it falls, it disappears forever! I also wonder how they choose trees for their nut stores- (for those who have never seen one, these birds peck holes in threes, then stick acorns in them with the caps sticking out, A tree may be studded with thousands of acorns. Here’s what it looks like. ) I’ll see two trees that look identical to me- one with a zillion acorns, the other with none.
@crisw
Yes, it’s crazy! lol
Friends bought a house on property as a fixer and when they tore off the old siding I couldn’t believe it! Billions of acorns stuffed into the walls. I have a few acorn tree stashes around my place, amazing!
I can’t say. Everytime I’ve ever seen one, it’s been so high up in the tree that I had a hard time spotting him in the first place. The only time I ever see them is when I’m camping in the mountains. They make such a delightful gonk gonk gonk sound. Sometimes it’s hard to find them because the sound echoes all over the trees, although you know they are there : )
Yes, (wow coloma must like birds im running into her alot on here!) I have a family of three downy woodpeckers that often do…Hope I helped!
Even though Im new to this website, I am not new to birding! :)
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