Jeff Dickey-Chasins
If you’ve ever spent an hour in the Connecticut woods, you’ve probably heard the knocking of a woodpecker’s beak against a tree trunk. There are seven species of woodpeckers that frequent our forests, parks, backyards, and orchards. Woodpeckers help the ecosystem by keeping down the insect population—including tree-damaging pests—and providing nest cavities in the trees for birds and mammals that can’t excavate a hole themselves, such as nuthatches and squirrels.
Why do they peck? First, they are hungry and spend much of their time looking for spiders and insects. To help with this, they have long, sticky tongues with barbed ends that excel at snagging insects. In order to easily maneuver on tree trunks, they have two toes that face forward and two that face backward. When they drill into the tree, they of course produce wood dust—which is filtered out by bristles lining their nostrils.
The other reason that woodpeckers peck is to mate. Males drum on trees (and gutters, trash cans, and other man-made objects) to attract a mate and also to announce their territory—yes, woodpeckers are very territorial! Connecticut woodpeckers generally lay a single clutch of eggs in the spring.
Let’s take a look at the woodpeckers you may see (and hear) the next time you visit a Middlesex Land Trust property:
Red-bellied woodpecker: This woodpecker has a distinctive red nape, and the males have a red crown. They tend to nest in dead trees, and they store food away for the winter by hammering berries, insects, and acorns into bark and tree crevices for later retrieval. They are common in Connecticut, and they don’t tend to do much damage to trees.
Downy woodpecker: This is the smallest woodpecker in Connecticut—bigger than a house finch but smaller than a red-winged blackbird. It has a black and white striped head and black wings with white spots. Males have a small red spot on the back of their heads. They are common throughout Connecticut and the rest of the U.S., and usually nest in dead tree limbs 12 to 30 feet above the ground.
Hairy woodpecker: The hairy woodpecker is one of the louder birds, and it tends to drum on pine trees with especial vigor. They have a fairly hairy appearance and are notable for their relatively long, pointed bill, as well as their distinct black and white coloring. They raise one brood per year and tend to nest in live trees 5 to 30 feet above ground.
Northern flicker: The northern flicker is known as “the woodpecker that doesn’t peck wood.” Instead, it gleans insects from the bark of trees. It has a distinctive gray-brown plumage and is one of the largest woodpeckers. It is also the most abundant woodpecker in North America. It is common to see flickers on the ground—they love eating ants!
Yellow-bellied sapsucker: The yellow-bellied sapsucker is smaller than the hairy woodpecker, with a pale yellow belly, straight bill, and mostly black and white plumage. As you might guess, it drills into trees and eats their sap (it likes maple trees and white birch in particular!). Unlike the other woodpeckers mentioned thus far, the yellow-bellied sapsucker is migratory, going south in the winter in search of readily available sap.
Red-headed woodpecker: The only endangered woodpecker in Connecticut, this bird has a completely red head, a black back, and white inner wing patches. The loss of open woodlots due to forest succession and a decline in farming has shrunk the necessary habitat for these woodpeckers. They use cavities they create to raise one brood per year.
Next time you walk through the woods, keep your eyes and ears open for woodpeckers – they are all around!
To hear recordings of woodpecker calls, see https://wildyards.com/woodpeckers-in-connecticut/
All pictures by Paul J. Fusco, from the Connecticut DEEP