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Great spotted woodpecker attacking squirrels (1 Viewer)

AlBirds

New member
Hello from Shropshire .I have recently set up a live bird table feed on my youtube channel is it normal for birds such as woodpeckers to attack squirrels ?
 
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Some species of birds will protect a food source from other types that may have in interest. We see this with blackbirds, thrushes, birds of prey and woodpeckers. Your observation is exactly that and Great Spotted Woodpeckers can be aggressive though they are usually quite shy. Same with large cats, canines and throughout nature. Still, quite an unusual occurrence.
 
Hi AlBirds and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I'm guessing it was a Grey Squirrel that was involved. They are very likely to raid bird nests and take the young (rather rarer behaviour from the Red Squirrel... very rarely reported). Woodpeckers are very territorial.

I hope you enjoy your time here with us.
 
Hi AlBirds and welcome to the forum. Nice of ou to join us.
 
Welcome to Birdforum. As you have read in the above posts there are good reasons why Gt Spotted Woodys would want to chase off Grey Squirrels. They eat eggs and chicks and compete for food at bird feeders!
Enjoy your visits here.

Lee
 
Welcome to BirdForum! I am sure you will find lots to interest you here, and I hope you enjoy your visits.
 
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