The Eurasian Wryneck is a drab black-and-cream bird in the woodpecker family without the woodpecker’s typical coloring, long bill, or pecking habit. She forages on the ground and appropriates abandoned tree cavities. She twists her neck in an uncanny way … Continue reading →
Mars is not the only Classical deity associated with the woodpecker. There is a hero named Picus, a son of Mars who is changed into a woodpecker by Circe, the witch of the Aegean. When he returns to his manly … Continue reading →
North American aboriginal lore is rich in story and folklore about the woodpecker. This wisdom is usually absent in Native animal-spirit books targeted to a mass audience, a testament to the lack of interest most English speaking people have … Continue reading →
The European Green is the clown of the woodpecker world, with red, yellow, and green plumage. He makes nest cavities in trees but mostly forages for insects on the ground. The video involving a Green below is one of … Continue reading →
After a feast of new material, I have not been posting much original content lately, so I thought I’d tell everyone what I’m up to right now. I just finished a short essay with photos for Moon Books Blog … Continue reading →
Uggh! I’m doing taxes this week. Not as bad as eating bugs, though.
Continue reading →More from Fannie Hardy Eckstrom: No other bird has so much work to do all the year round, and none performs his task with more energy and sense.…He is artisan to the backbone,—a plain, hardworking, useful citizen, spending his … Continue reading →
_ This is the Pileated Woodpecker, in my opinion the most handsome of a very beautiful group of birds. Both males and females have this striking red crown. Fannie Hardy Eckstorm writes in her 1901 woodpecker treatise: … one of … Continue reading →
As spring approaches look for more posts about the woodpecker. This is a Gila Woodpecker, a familiar inhabitant of the Sonara Desert, in a saguaro tree. ____ Here is a longer piece posted four years ago about the woodpecker. ____
Continue reading →