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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

IDing Woodpeckers by ear (1 Viewer)

dennis

Have binoculars. Will travel.
On a recent field trip I picked up a new skill.

A fellow birder, hearing the tapping of a woodpecker species, announced, "Yellow-bellied Sapsucker!". Raising an eyebrow, I asked for his basis of identification.

Seems that the cadence of the rapping was the key.

I've now re-listened to some audiotaped woodpeckers and found that the ID was right on the mark.

Something else to study,
dennis
 
Yep, Woodpeckers tell each other apart by the different lengths and rapidity of their spring drumming - and if they can do it, we ought to be able to too.

It isn't difficult in Britain, as we've only got 3 species, Green, which hardly ever drums anyway, Great Spotted, which has a loud, rapid half-second drum, and Lesser Spotted, which has a quieter, slower, 1-2 second drum.

Not sure what can be done outside of the pre-breeding season, then I usually tell them apart by call notes.

Michael
 
Hi Dennis
I dont know who is more lucky....... You in USA (with Many Wpkr species !) OR Us in Uk with only 3 different Drumming sounds to differenciate.
Its Easy here as Green Wpkr drums only rarely, and the other two, Greater Spotted & Lesser Spotted have differing drumming sounds.

A friend of mine had a knack of attracting GSWpkr by tapping wood on wood! I could never do it.

Sooner or later you'll come across one drumming on something other than wood, like the metal capping on a telegraph pole !

(how many wpkrs do you get in your area ? )

Stevie
 
Hi Stevie,

Here in Pennsylvania we've spotted:

Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Downy woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker(rare but I've seen one)
Northern Flicker
and Pileated Woodpecker(the big guy)
 
Hi Andrew,
Yes, Lesser Spot tails off.

Stevie,
There's an old Thelwell cartoon, showing a wildlife sound recorder, screaming with pain, hands over his earphones, while a woodpecker is drumming on his microphone - really great!

Michael
 
Dennis

8 !

I think theres ' only ' 11 eleven species in the whole of Europe.!

GooD Hunting...... and DONT FORGET A TAPE-RECORDER !

MF
Cant say ive seen that Ad..... i just keep getting an image of ' His Masters Voice ' !
I can picture it though, V.Amusing

Any LSW in North'd ? I know theres good no's of Yaffs.

S
 
Hi Stevie,

LSpW in NL - very few and far between. I've not had one (yet) this year. Got one in 2000, '01 and '02, but it was the same bird each time, a very vocal single unmated male in Gosforth Park NR, and alas he seems to have popped his clogs now (no reports at all this year). Before that, I'd only had two ever in NL. It could easily be a few years till I get another.

The Thelwell cartoon was on the front cover of the RSPB 'Birds' mag, many years ago.

Of W'pecker species totals, I've spent a cumulative total of 7 weeks in North America and got 10 species, and spent a lifetime in Europe, and only got 8 species (of which 4 in Britain & Northumberland).

Michael
 
In my area of Colorado we have:
Acorn (one record)
Lewis'
Red-headed(summer)
Red-bellied (irregularly)
Williamson's (summer)
Red-naped (summer)
Yellow-bellied (winter)
Downy
Hairy
Three-toed
Ladder-backed
No. Flicker (both races)


To find three-toes, you listen for quiet pecking in forests in my area above 9,000 ft.

Van
 
I've been fortunate to have ;
Red-bellied
Red Headed
Northen Flicker

All breed in the backyard about 60 feet off the deck. Very wooded 100 feet from a lage lake. the downies, hairy's and pileated bring their young to the feeder. They like their suet!

Very cool enjoying the hottub while watching Red-headed feed their young! My backyard is very popular with birder's as fledgeling time approaches. ;o)

Dennis, did you get your Black-backed up off 209, PEEc I think it was. A very neat bird, chipped pieces of bark off red pine looking for tasty morsals, paid no mind to birder's 20 feet away.
 
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Wow, I think I have that Thelwell cartoon that Michael mentioned. Think it's in a book of Thelwell cartoons called "Book of Leisure". I must have a search around here and see if I can dig it out.

As for woodpeckers, so far I've only seen the one species - Acorn Woodpeckers. A couple of them are bosses of our feeders. The only thing they can't chase off is the escapee budgie that we're trying to catch.

Neil
 
Hi Neil,

Down where you live, I've seen and heard Hairy Woodpeckers at Natural Bridges State Park. Sooner or later, you'll probably see Nuttall's Woodpeckers - they're fairly common and also expanding their range.

Arnel
 
Hi Screech,

Exactly right. Got the Black-backed at the Pocono Environmental Center.

That bird stuck around for quite awhile and made alot of Pennsylvania listers happy.

dennis
 
The original qusetion refers to tapping sounds rather than drumming. While the latter differs between species according to speed and duration etc...I suspect that differences in tapping sounds are as much a result of the quality of the timber as anything else. That said, very large species will clearly tap differently from very small ones.

MV
 
In my original example I mentioned the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. This species, while drilling it's sap holes, starts tapping at a rapid rate. It then slows down incrementally until stopping. The effect is like that of a squeaky door swinging to a stop.

dennis
 
Hello Bob
Now we know why you're smiling from ear to ear on your pic !

Dennis
Are you familiar with the term 'drumming' in USA ?
In your initial post you mention both "tapping & rapping"
(I take it that you are talking about the noise the birds are making when "communicating", rather than when they are pecking randomly whilst feeding or excavating ?)

MV
I have seen all 3 UK wpkrs drum in the same Oak tree, on the same day.

Stevie
 
I believe woodpeckers are my favorite family of birds. I look forward to perhaps seeing the Green Woodpecker and the Great Spotted Woodpecker when I am in London this February. And maybe the Cardinal, Gray, Nubian and other woodpeckers when we go on to Kenya from London.

I have seen eight species (+one race) of woodpeckers in Missouri:
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Lewis's Woodpecker (a vagrant)
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) "the above mentioned race"
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Woodpeckers I have seen in other states:
Acorn Woodpecker - Portal, Arizona
Black-backed Woodpecker - Wenatchee, Washington
Gila Woodpecker - Patagonia, Arizona
Gilded Flicker - Tucson, Arizona
Golden-fronted Woodpecker - Rio Honda, Texas
Ladder-backed Woodpecker - Portal, Arizona
Red-naped Sapsucker - Idaho Springs, Colorado
Strickland's (Arizona) Woodpecker - Portal, Arizona
Northern Three-toed Woodpecker - Isabella, Minnesota
White-headed Woodpecker - Wenatchee, Washington
Williamson's Sapsucker - Denver, Colorado

Additionally, in Costa Rica, I was able to see:
Black-cheeked Woodpecker - Escondido
Hoffman's Woodpecker - Braulio Carrillo
Pale-billed Woodpecker - Orotina
Red-crowned Woodpecker - San Jose
Rufous-winged Woodpecker - Escondido

Now, if I can just get over to Cuba and see an Ivory-billed Woodpecker!!!! Maybe someday one will show up, who knows!!!

Larry
 
We've nabbed 7 species in Arizona:

Lewis’s Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker ("Red-shafted" form)
Gilded Flicker

Haven't tried ID'ing 'em by taps, but we've got the Gila and the Gilded figured out by their raucous calls.
 
Hi Larry,I reckon you'll have no problem with Green and Great Spotted,but Lesser Spotted will be a bit more difficult!

I'm over in Florida at the moment and saw my first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker yesterday,which just about completes my set for Florida Woodpeckers.
 
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