Latest / Street Smart Naturalist
Woody Woodpecker...Not!
My guess is that many urban dwellers, particularly in Seattle, have heard the sounds of Northern Flickers. With a rapid, rhythmic banging, the birds pound all sorts of surfaces to produce what one ornithologist described as the sound of a miniature pneumatic drill. In my neighborhood, I have seen flickers drilling trees, utility poles, and everyone’s favorite, some sort of metal surface, which produces a resonant and astoundingly loud sound that can be heard deep inside our house.
Studies have found that both sexes drill. What makes them particularly troublesome for some people is that birds…
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