A wonderful ‘Woody’ wanders the Weston woods

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 25 March 2010 13:19

Over the years, we’ve had a few reports from people who said they saw a “Red-headed Woodpecker.” Often, this turned out to be someone who’d spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker and thought anything with a head that red should be called “Red-headed.” This was particularly true 15 or 20 years ago when Red-bellies were not as common as they are now, and seeing one of them then was a fairly big deal.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are rare birds in Connecticut. So when someone tells me one was spotted nearby, I hesitate.

But Jackie Littlejohn, who lives in Weston, doesn’t just report seeing a Red-head, she demonstrates it with a series of photos that show the bird at many angles and provided proof positive that she has a Red-head living in woods near her home. (The pictures were, unfortunately, taken too far away to reproduce well in the paper.)

“Within three minutes of my arrival today, he came around to watch me, as is his pattern,” Jackie said. “He is very territorial so I am confident he has selected this as his nesting spot. He dive-bombed another bird as I watched. That was quite a sight!”

Jackie takes her dog on walks in the woods where the woodpecker has been seen. “She is low-key and sits with me while I birdwatch up there. Someone has discovered my habit and has started to take her two large feisty dogs — one is a puppy — up there. I am worried that this might interfere/jeopardize the Red-Headed selecting the spot for nesting. Am I being unreasonable?”

I suspect a woodpecker will have little fear of a dog, noisy or otherwise. A bigger problem for Red-heads is much smaller: European Starlings. According to Joseph Zeranski and Tom Baptist in Connecticut Birds, Starlings have been aggressively competing with Red-heads for nesting sites since the 1890s.

But starlings don’t explain the biggest mystery of the rarity of the Red-headed Woodpecker. Zeranski and Baptist found reports that in the early 1800s, this species was common, even “abundant,” in many parts of Connecticut. However, between 1845 and 1850, the population crashed “for unknown reasons.”

Today, the state line between New York and Connecticut is almost the same as the eastern limit of the summer range maps for this bird. Red-heads are well established in the Southeast and some move to northern states in summer — but very rarely to New England. In fact, on Sunday, the eBirds database at Cornell reported no sightings of Red-headed Woodpeckers in New England, but there was one over at Croton Point Park on the Hudson and several seen in Pennsylvania.

The Red-Head has a super-syllabic name, Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Melanerpes means “black creeper,” while erythrocephalus means “red head.” It’s very descriptive of a bird with black on its back and wings, and red on its head that creeps around the bark of trees.

Melanerpes, incidentally, is the same genus of woodpeckers that Woody Woodpecker was modeled after. You all remember Woody, of course.

Goose is back

Judy Wald of Lewisboro writes March 12, “You may recall how a lone Greater White-fronted Goose appeared on Lake Kitchawan last fall, and persisted until it succeeded to become a member of our resident swan family of two adults and five offspring, even flying with them as it circled the lake readying for migration.

“We could hardly believe our eyes as we looked out the window this morning at the rapidly defrosting Lake Kitchawan. Who returned but the Greater White-fronted Goose! Two swans had returned earlier this week, along with many Canada geese, and ringnecks. And the goose was with the swans again. The swans are chasing off the Canada geese, but not their buddy.”

Sightings

John R. McGinley of Wilton reported March 15: “Mill Pond at the intersection of Route 123 and 106 [in New Canaan] has several Common Mergansers and Ring-necked Ducks. Good views.”

Jason Kessler of Ridgefield reports March 18 he spotted an American Tree Sparrow and sub-adult Red-shouldered Hawk.

Coming up

Basic Birding for Adults, with naturalist Tait Johansson Fridays, April 2, 23 and 30 from 9 to 11 a.m., field trips on April 9, May 7 and May 28, $175, Bedfordaudubon.org

Field Trip to Jones Beach, with Joan and Richard Becker, Saturday, April 3, carpool from Bylane Farm, 35 Todd Road, Goldens Bridge at 7:30 a.m. Bedford Audubon, jebecker @ bedfordaudubon.org, 914-232-4806.

Saturday Morning Bird Walks with Luke Tiller; to register, sunrisebirding.com/walks.htm; 203- 453-6724, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, 203-637-9822.

Copyright 2010 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders [at sign] yahoo.com, or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183, extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding, 203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www. sandersbooks. com.