you really have to think about all this evolution.. in regards to a bird.. whose goal in life is to smash it beak and skull.. REPEATEDLY.. into a resistant material .. like wood ... would you think .. that after a couple millions years.. they might come up with some other way to feed themselves???? we have two types.. the big pileated woodpecker ... woody ... red head and a tuxedo ... and the red makes them easy to spot ... and the much more abundant smaller ones ... w/o the red head ... but still black and white ... maybe the downy woodpecker i have found.. if you have enough adult beverages.. and sit there long enough.. concentrating on where the sound is coming from.. either you will eventually see it flitting about.. hoping up and down the trunks ... or you will pass out and that will be the end of that ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Absolutely! I would love to plant some native trees! I will be planting two trees. I would like to have one medium-sized one that will be planted about 15' away from the house, that will grow 20-30' high. The other tree will be planted about 10' behind the first, and should be a short tree growing 10-15' high. The goal is to maintain the shade garden, yet not plant anything so tall as to cast shade on the sunny side of the yard. I have no large trees anywhere on my property, but my neighbor's yards are predominantly full of aging silver maple and mulberry trees with an occasional evergreen thrown in. I have several Rose of Sharon "bushes" that are about 12 feet tall or more, as well as a small 12' tall red-leaved tree I have not been able to identify. In the front yard I have a dwarf apple tree, a dwarf peach tree, and some elderberry bushes. The soil they would be planted in is a rich, well drained soil in a raised bed with lots of compost. They will be planted in the east side of the yard, and will have a bit of shade but is mostly sunny. The bed gets watered regularly with soaker hoses. What am I looking for in these trees? I would love to see some spring flowers, and it would be great if the trees had fruit or nuts. Of course colorful fall foliage is a wonderful thing. Trees with leaves that are good for compost (I've heard oak leaves make incredible mulch) are an added bonus. Trees that would attract birds and other wildlife are a priority. I have a short ranch house and am hoping that the taller of the two trees can provide some good shade for the house. Thanks for your input, what a great resource this is!

here it is only miles away to be in the high mountains. This time of year it's too snowy and deep in the mountains and most of the birds move down to the foothills and the river bottoms. there is about a foot of snow on the ground here and we have some woodpeckers and dozens of juncos and nut hatches and chickadees. But if i travel 15 or 20 miles south the elevation drops several thousand foot and its a lot more sagebrush and scrub trees and even desest and there a a lot more birds and only patches of snow on the ground. Next spring as it warms up lots of birds will magrate up here from the lower areas and i have woodpeckers that nest close by. but as it gets summer they leave for the mountains, and next fall they start coming back down again. In the spring and fall i get downeys and flickers, acorn woodpeckers Lewis's woodpeckers and an occanional hairy woopecker. but summers nothing and a few hardy downeys and a couples flickers here in the winter.

My phoebes had skipped a year of nesting in their usual place (above the porch light fixture near my office door). My mirror set-up had scared them away. I should have realized that birds do not "like" mirrors -- but I didn't think about it at the time. I did see a bird pecking all day at the mirror, looking behind it, then pecking angrily at it when seeing the "intruder" again. That bird came back the next day to peck at the mirror again. I felt sorry for him wasting his time. But, I didn't think about the phoebes reaction being the same. So, they never nested there last year. I removed the mirror, but they still did not return to nest there this spring. Instead, they nested on another side of the house -- under our raised deck (same as last year). But, after the 1st brood was fledged -- THEY MOVED BACK TO THEIR OLD NESTING SPOT! So, the phoebes apparently got fed up with the disturbances created by our toy poodle (who is let out onto our raised deck several times a day.) The poodle would be walking directly over their nest, and possibly pissing over their nest. The nest building started May 25, 2021 and completed on the 30th or 31st. The mother was sitting on the nest on May 31, and there were 2 eggs in the nest. So, the first egg was likely delivered on May 30. By June 3, there were 5 eggs. All the eggs hatched on June 17 -- so, exactly 2 weeks after the last egg was laid. Interesting that all eggs hatched on the same day, even though each egg was laid a day apart. When I peeked, all the shells were gone. So, even tho I didn't see it, I assume that the parents removed all the egg shells. I also see the parents flying away with baby-bird poop. The poop looks like worms, and the parents carry it away from the nest. They either drop it or eat it (it is undigested food). Today is June 23, and the parents are often very busy bringing food. The bay birds are still too small to see without using a mirror over the nest. Here is a link to a very interesting article from 1937, detailing the observations of nesting habits of phoebes as studied over a 3-yr period. A few interesting details: Female does all the nest building. Incubation starts at varying times - sometimes after 3rd egg, sometimes after 4th, sometimes after 5th. The male apparently does none of the incubation. After fledging, the young birds remain close to the nest, getting farther way as the days pass. Both parents still feed the young after they fledge -- feeding them for periods of up to 18 days. Reliance on the parents gradually decreases. The parents may eventually show harsh treatment of the young to get them to go out on their own. Interesting. https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v059n03/p0410-p0417.pdf