On Monday September 28 after 5 PM, a female Hairy Woodpecker was for many minutes excavating a large cavity within a snag of a horse chestnut tree here in the backyard in Norwich village. She perched at the entrance to the cavity, reached with her head into the hole, and pulled out individual wood chips, each one at a time, held in her beak and then dropped to fall to the ground roughly 20 feet below. Fresh wood chips then lay scattered on the ground beneath the nest hole. 

My next sighting was at mid day today (Thursday Oct. 1) by which time the cavity had been greatly enlarged so that now the entire bird could enter, become hidden from my sight, turn around inside, and then exit head first. She was still removing small wood chips but now using the bill to sweep small groups of chips out the entrance rather than disposing of chips one at a time.

The exterior of the hole resembles that of a fresh Hairy Woodpecker nest, but Hairies are known to build nests only in spring. Thus this cavity is considered to be a roost hole for use as a winter residence by the individual bird. No male Hairy has been seen in the vicinity of the cavity. While the female was excavating today, a Black-capped Chickadee and a White-breasted Nuthatch approached the hole but did not linger. Presumably neither of these substantially smaller species would knowingly enter a cavity occupied by a Hairy Woodpecker.

George Clark
Norwich, VT
 


To post messages, send e-mail to:  [log in to unmask]
Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages.
To contact the list owner:  [log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe:  E-mail this command to [log in to unmask]  UNSUBSCRIBE UV-Birders
To change your e-mail address:  E-mail this command from your old address to: [log in to unmask]  CHANGE UV-Birders [new e-mail address]

Web based archives and subscription management are available at:
http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html