THE WOODPECKERS 



(Family Picidae 



BY A. A. ALLEN, PH.D. 



ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF 0RNITH0L0(;Y. CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



FAV birds are more easily recognized by the layman 

 or the amateur ornithologist than are the wood- 

 peckers. In spite of the fact that they constitute .^ 

 large family of over 375 species and are found over the 

 entire world, except in Madagascar and the .Australian 

 region, they are remarkably uniform in their habits and 

 in their modifications. Indeed, some of the distinct and 

 even strikingly marked species, like our downy and hairy 

 woodpeckers, resemble each other almost^ feather for 

 feather. Twenty-four of the nearly 200 species of wood- 

 peckers occurring in the New World are found in North 

 America. 



The typical woodpeckers have large heads with stout 

 chisel-like bills which end 

 in a narrow edge rather 

 than a point, and are thus 

 well suited for chipping 

 wood. Their tongues are 

 very long, capable of being 

 protruded a couple of 

 inches beyond the tip of 

 the bill, and have recurved 

 barbs at the tip. This com- 

 bination of bill and tongue 

 make a perfect tool for 

 drilling into the chamber: 

 of wood-boring larvae and 

 spearing the concealed 

 grub. For this reason 

 woodpeckers are consid- 

 ered one of the most valu- 

 able groups of birds. 



The tail feathers of the 

 woodpeckers are very stiff 

 and pointed and serve as 

 props to support the weight 

 of the birds as they climb 

 the trunks of the trees in 

 their characteristic man- 

 ner. The tiny woodpeckers 

 of South America and Africa, called piculets, and the 

 four species of wrynecks of the Old World, however, 

 have soft tails. 



The feet of woodpeckers, likewise, are adapted to this 

 climbing habit and differ from all of the birds that we 

 have thus far considered, in having two toes directed 

 forward and two backward. Thus they serve as pincers 

 for better grasping the bark. In a few species, the three- 

 toed woodpeckers of northern North America, one hind 

 toe has been lost. 



Because of all these modifications, the woodpeckers 

 are separated from the Order Passeres or "Perching 

 Birds" to which the families heretofore considered be- 

 ns 



.\ RED HEADED WOODPECKER RETURNING TO HIS APARTMENT 



When he returned from the South _a 

 hole and he was compelled to drill 

 had frequent quarrels. 



long, and are put in an order by themselves, the Pici. 

 In color, the woodpeckers vary from the common 

 black and white varieties, through various shades of 

 brown and green, to those that are brilliant scarlet and 

 yellow. In fact, patches of scarlet are found on the 

 heads of the males of most species, even the most dullv 

 colored. 



Woodpeckers are usually solitary birds and even the 

 family parties disperse soon after the young are able to 

 care for themselves. Our northern species, however, 

 sometimes gather in scattered groups during the winter, 

 often accompanying the flocks of chickadees and nut- 

 hatches, and regularly come to feeding stations main- 

 tained for them. In fact, 

 they become so fond of 

 suet that they continue to 

 visit pieces hung in the 

 trees all through the sum- 

 mer months, even when 

 they drip in the sun and 

 become rancid. They even 

 feed their young with some 

 suet and bring them to it 

 when they are able to fly. 



In nesting habits also, 

 woodpeckers are remark- 

 ably uniform, for they all 

 drill holes in dead or soft- 

 wooded trees and lay their 

 eggs on the chips at the 

 bottom of the cavity. The 

 size of the hole varies from 

 about one and a half inches 

 in diameter with the downv 

 to two and a half inches 

 with the flicker, and is cor- 

 respondingly larger with 

 the pileated and ivory- 

 billed species. The hole ii 

 directed toward the center 

 of the tree but a short dis- 

 tance and then drops downward. for from six to eight 

 inches to two feet and is usually enlarged toward the 

 bottom for the convenience of the incubating bird. 

 Usually both birds assist in drilling the hole and often 

 carry the xhips to some distance from the tree in order 

 not to attract attention to it. The eggs are always glossy 

 white and unspotted, but the number varies with the dif- 

 ferent species from four to twelve. There is one cele- 

 brated case of a flicker which continued to lay as often as 

 the eggs were removed, until it had laid 71 eggs in 73 

 days. 



Most woodpeckers excavate new nesting cavities each 

 year, but some return to the same hole year after year. 



flicker had usurped his previous years* 

 another higher up. The two families 



