Woodpeckers

The Eagle River Nature Center offered a free lecture on Woodpeckers this weekend, so Mother and I met up at 2:00 to attend. They are tucked away up in the mountains on the outskirts of Eagle River. It is a gorgeous place, with all manner of trails and scenic views to offer. I’m actually considering adding it to our Family Hiking schedule this season, for a change of view.

http://www.ernc.org/

The speaker was a volunteer naturalist, Beth Baker, who was quite knowledgeable on the subject. She showed us pictures and played sound bites – she even had some hands-on items for us to look at: a woodpecker skull, a piece of a tree that had a woodpecker nest excavated into it, and several books on the subject.

They have lots of bird feeders set out throughout the winter at the nature center, and during the talk a couple of woodpeckers showed up (a hairy & a downy). Beth commented on the fact that when she gives talks on such animals as moose or wolverine, THEY never oblige her by showing up, and yet the woodpecker almost always does. It was very cool to watch them outside at the feeders while learning all about them inside the center.

There are seven (7) species of woodpecker in Alaska: the northern flicker, the red-breasted sapsucker, the yellow-breasted sapsucker, the hairy, the downy, the three-toed, and the black backed. Only 5 of those are commonly seen in Anchorage, however: we don’t get the two sapsuckers.

Beth talked about how the bird is able to peck wood the way it does - special adaptations to the beak, skull, brain, and muscles as well as modified skeletal structure - and how they’re able to function vertically rather than horizontally - specially adapted feet and modified tail feathers.

She talked about their diet - insects, sap, seeds, animal fat - and their nesting habitat - inside the tree rather than on the tree.

She explained their importance to the ecology of a forest – consuming insects inaccessible to other birds, providing nesting locations for other animals once the woodpeckers are done with them, and contributing to the decay of old trees.

All of this information, and more, can be found in the Wildlife Notebook Series of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game although if you have a chance to hear Beth’s presentation, it’s really worth your time.

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/notehome.php

After the talk was over Mother and I had to check out the books on the table, and I ended up purchasing one. I am now the proud owner of a really good Birds of Alaska book. It will make a fine addition to the books I haul along with me on each of our family hikes – although if I get too many more of them, I’m going to have to hire a Sherpa just to carry my backpack for me. It’s getting quite heavy!