WOODPECKERS: Family Piddae [373] 



Woodcock (1901) listed 12. localities in the State where the bird has been 

 noted and quoted Bretherton as follows: 



A rather rare resident, Breeding, and frequenting the large timber. The Indians believed 

 that the red scalp of this bird was a talisman against all evil, and, in consequence, the birds 

 were constantly hunted and their numbers greatly reduced, but as the Indians are being 

 rapidly civilized out of existence the birds are now on the increase. 



Perhaps in this statement there is a hint as to the apparent increase of 

 this great woodpecker that we now find to be fairly common and widely 

 distributed for so large and conspicuous a bird. Our notes contain records 

 for every month and for all of the wooded sections of the State. It is 

 most common in the open forests of the Wallowa Mountains and in the 

 ranges bordering the Rogue River Valley, though it is also found in lesser 

 numbers throughout both the Cascades and Coast Ranges and in the 

 wooded portions of the Willamette Valley. Braly found a nest contain- 

 ing one egg near Fort Klamath, May n, 1931. 



The borings of this great bird are more frequently seen than the bird 

 itself. Old stumps are literally torn to pieces in its search for wood- 

 boring insects, and deep pits are to be found in many other trees. These 

 drillings are carried out with amazing speed, one pair of the birds soon 

 effectively riddling all of the stumps and snags in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of their chosen home. 



Usually shy, these largest of the woodpeckers in Oregon can dodge 

 behind a tree trunk with amazing speed for creatures so big and clumsy 

 looking. At times they lose their shyness and flit about from one tree 

 to another in supreme indifference, as Gabrielson has twice observed, 

 once in Wallowa County, where a family of six furnished a wonderful 

 entertainment as the parents taught their newly fledged offspring the 

 intricate art of dashing through the thick growth at top speed, and once 

 in Lincoln County, where two males and a female darted about through 

 the trees as do the Downy Woodpeckers in mating season. The flight in 

 such performances is swift the birds zigzagging among the trees, flash- 

 ing the white wing patches and linings that contrast strongly with the 

 dark body plumage. At other times the flight resembles that of a crow, 

 with much less of the undulating movement of the woodpecker family 

 generally. 



Of all bird notes to be heard, the ringing bugle calls of the Pileated 

 Woodpecker, the clear peal of the Loon, and the wild free notes of the 

 Olive-sided Flycatcher seem most fittingly to express the very spirit of 

 the great western forests. Heard in the early morning, when the per- 

 petual twilight of the heavy forests is still only a shade lighter than the 

 blackness of night, the ringing notes of the "Black Woodcock" bring a 

 thrill to the listener that few other wild voices can produce. Not only 

 are the calls thrilling, but the sight of this great black woodpecker, 

 flame-crested and white-winged, intrigues every lover of the out-of-doors. 



