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 →
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 →_ 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 →Check out my guest post this week at Return to Mago about drumming with birds.
Continue reading →One of the most startling experiences for people new to the Sonora Desert is the loud metallic rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat that rattles the early mornings. It sounds like a machine gun. It’s made by Mars, the god of war, in his woodpecker … Continue reading →