How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
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How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
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Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#2There's nothing quite like the sound of a flicker hammering on a downspout at 4 am!
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#3Not listed is the red-bellied woodpecker. I've got one of them that drums on my gutters just outside my home office window every day. Multiple times a day. Fast, evenly spaced drumming with no variation or fall-off. Lasts 1-3 seconds. Maybe not quite as fast as the flicker, but close.
I thought he was putting holes in my house for a while until I figured out what he was doing. I have a lot of flickers around too, but don't hear them drumming very often.
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#4There's nothing quite like the sound of a flicker hammering on a downspout at 4 am!
I have nuthatches that peck and bore large holes in my cedar siding in the spring to nest. They showed up about two weeks ago and they’ll be here through summer.
The sound is obnoxious and they’ve basically destroyed my house. I’ve tried everything to keep them away but they are tenacious. We’re currently saving up to reside the house with Hardie Board; I think that’s the only solution.
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#5Not listed is the red-bellied woodpecker. I've got one of them that drums on my gutters just outside my home office window every day. Multiple times a day. Fast, evenly spaced drumming with no variation or fall-off. Lasts 1-3 seconds. Maybe not quite as fast as the flicker, but close. I thought he was putting holes in my house for a while until I figured out what he was doing. I have a lot of flickers around too, but…
Yeah, we got these red-bellied wodpeckers here, knocking on the metal top of the poles of the electricity lines. Since the main inlet is connect to a wall in our bed room, they wake us up early in the morning by their drumming, resonationg through the electricity lines from near and far.
It have spent hours, half aslep, pondering what that sound could be, it took quite a while before I found the origin!
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#6You could also try the BirdNET app: https://birdnet.cornell.edu/
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#7Given how much time they spend pecking my metal chimney cap, they seem like they must be one of the dumber birds.
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#8Given how much time they spend pecking my metal chimney cap, they seem like they must be one of the dumber birds.
According to the article, the drumming sound they make is for communication; pecking to find food is relatively quiet.
He's drumming on the metal chimney cap because it's the loudest thing he can find.
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#9Given how much time they spend pecking my metal chimney cap, they seem like they must be one of the dumber birds.
According to the article, the drumming sound they make is for communication; pecking to find food is relatively quiet. He's drumming on the metal chimney cap because it's the loudest thing he can find.
But what’s he saying? What’s in that tiny bird brain worth going on about at 4am? Cats? Smoke? Food? Bird problems, amirighht?
Re: How to Recognize Woodpeckers by Their Drumming Sounds
#10I loved hearing then in Hampstead Woods in North London, and also the trees along the New River (artificial canal intended to bring fresh water into the city, built in Tudor times) - but it was quite difficult to see the little buggers. I did have a spotted one come to our bird table in Lincoln UK a some years ago, and my little brother who lives near Grantham quite often sees them.
Lovely birds.