777 Blanton Hill Road (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} 777blantonhill) wrote,@ 2008-06-30 14:27:00 |
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"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then -- to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting." from "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Male red-bellied woodpeckers are medium sized birds that have red caps and hind necks, black and white barred backs and tails. Their belly feathers are off white with a reddish tinge. Females are similar to males but lack the red hind neck. Red-bellied woodpeckers are found in eastern Texas and U.S.
Red-bellied and other woodpeckers are important nest providers for many other species. The holes they excavate in dead trees, poles, and fence posts are used by bluebirds, wrens, chickadees, and titmice to name just a few. Woodpeckers sometimes use telephone poles in the place of dead trees.
Courtship between red-bellies includes mutual tapping and v-shaped flights. Most red-bellies remain year round. In urban areas their nests are often taken over by starlings after they have finished building them. They excavate a new nest hole each time they renest during the season.
It takes only 7 to 10 days for a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers to carve a home in a dead tree. Red-bellied woodpeckers will occasionally use bird houses. These woodpeckers have been known to store food in hollow trees. Their diet consists of insects, nuts, fruits, and berries. You can attract red-bellied woodpeckers to bird feeders by providing them with peanuts.
The woodpecker's bill is a multi-use tool for food gathering and even more unusual, to get their courtship message out. Male woodpeckers do not sing well, so they use their heads, literally. In the spring, woodpeckers are especially attracted to any sound that resonates, including aluminum shed roofs and even the hoods of cars, much to the annoyance of their human owners.
