They ’ re Only Mostly Dead
By PAMELA BOE
Had my first flicker today , right on the back deck of my little cottage ! This means I only have one left to go , as I ’ ve already had the downy , the hairy , the pileated , the red-headed , and the red-bellied right in front of my kitchen window . I ’ m very proud ! I need only the yellow-bellied before I have had the complete set !
It ’ s funny how our priorities change as we get older . Twenty years ago , I would never have imagined I ’ d brag about my first northern flicker . But then again , twenty years ago I wouldn ’ t have known I had the ability to attract six out of the seven woodpeckers indigenous to this area . To be fair , I know I have the seventh , the yellow-bellied sapsucker , around here … I simply have no sap to attract one onto my deck ! It makes sense ; sapsuckers are the most elusive woodpeckers and the only one of the seven that doesn ’ t live here yearround . Between the half year they aren ’ t here , and my sapless deck situation , I have little to tempt them with . Story of my life .
My kids roll their eyes and believe I ’ ve lost my marbles . I probably have . Replaced them with sunflower hearts , if you must know . Expensive pre-shelled sunflower hearts to be exact . But when my kids grew up and fledged , I had to nurture something , and in a skinny minute our backyard critters found themselves with new patronage . Nothing feeds struggling wildlife more happily or abundantly than a lonely mama whose own babies have left the roost . The instinctive force is strong , I tell you .
It all began when I saw birds flying out of a hole of a large dead tree in our yard . My husband had planned on cutting the old tulip poplar down , but when we saw there was life yet within it , we let it be ! I ’ m so glad we did , as we have since
learned that those dead trees are as essential to the survival of many different species as they are when they are alive . Various birds and mammals rely on these seemingly worthless stands of deadwood for both shelter and as a source of food ( as they invite a variety of insects with decomposition ). In fact , the entire forest floor relies on the nutrients that come from decomposing trees to remain rich and loamy enough to support the next generation of flora and fauna .
Worrisome , most of the woodpecker populations in our area have dwindled significantly in the last couple hundred years , primarily from habitat loss caused by humans cutting down deadwood , whether it be from homeowner landscaping or forest fragmentation , which happens when large standing forests get broken up by development . Adding insult to injury , hawks , the woodpeckers ’ main predator , have been joined in large numbers
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