Woodpeckers, The Forest Architects

[00:00:04]You can't miss them, but you rarely  see them hammering, drumming, chopping.

[00:00:18]Black, green, and great spotted  woodpeckers. The homebuilders of the forest.

[00:00:29]It's an overheated market. Demand exceeds supply and scarcity forces new thinking.  Tenants must grab what they can get.

[00:01:17]To make a good impression, song birds puff out  their chests and tune tune up their vocal cords.

[00:01:32]But what if your voice doesn't cut the mustard?

[00:01:43]Great spotted woodpeckers have an  effective way of getting heard.

[00:01:52]They just knock on wood  more than 10 times a second.

[00:02:00]Much more effective than screeching  at the top of your voice.

[00:02:12]However, you need the right materials.

[00:02:20]A dried out crown of a tree  has a special resonance.

[00:02:35]One that carries for kilome.

[00:02:43]A perfect tree like this attracts other birds.

[00:03:02]A black woodpecker hammers about  40 times in a 2-cond burst.

[00:03:13]It's a sound that females love.

[00:03:23]In woodpecker world, the louder the  better. This male has his answer. And now his beak has a different task.  A woodpecker pear must build a home.

[00:03:45]For a woodpecker, a tree is more than just  an echo chamber. Its trunk is a building site for homes of all kinds. Safe, dry, and warm.

[00:04:08]Woodpeckers build one room studios, two room duplexes, and multioccupation blocks with all sorts of different tenants.

[00:04:38]But demand outstrips supply. When spring comes,  many birds are looking for a proper home.

[00:04:57]Potential tenants cue to view  and fights begin at the door. Our black woodpeckers are constantly inspecting  old holes, but some aren't pretty enough, while others are already taken.

[00:05:38]And tenants like these  should be treated with care.

[00:05:47]This pair need a home to start a  family. So the best option is selfbuild.

[00:05:59]Woodpeckers hammer several holes each year,  both for breeding and simply as sleeping places.

[00:06:15]And when a pair team up, they peck away together.

[00:06:22]Often they'll work at several holes for months.

[00:06:34]These headbangers don't get hurt.  Their brains float in a fluid that absorbs the slam of beak on beachwood  and so protects them from headaches.

[00:06:50]While the black woodpeckers are working on  their home, others are still out scouting.

[00:07:05]Greenwood peckers get  together on the drumming tree.

[00:07:20]So the great spotted in the mating season, males offer  their choosy females a number of holes. Spotted woodpeckers seek out  softer wood to peck and so save energy.

[00:07:57]But the female still hasn't decided.

[00:08:20]So, as spring advances, the males  go looking for new building sites.

[00:08:39]Modern house fronts are extremely attractive.

[00:08:48]Humans are now insulating  lots of homes to save energy.

[00:09:00]This could be something for spotted woodpeckers because the soft cladding sounds  just like a hollow tree trunk.

[00:09:24]Get past the plaster bar and the drywall interior is child's play.

[00:09:48]The debris may not be  biodedegradable like rotten wood.

[00:09:56]But that's someone else's problem.

[00:10:05]It's much quicker to peck a home here than in a  tree. So, the master builder can offer his partner far more choice. The greater the choice, the  greater the likelihood that one will satisfy her.

[00:10:24]This new development attracts  other cavity dwellers.

[00:10:44]An exciting new nesting place for starings.

[00:10:51]And a gay-headed woodpecker  inspects the new real estate, too.

[00:11:03]He doesn't want to pick a  quarrel with the proprietor, but the nuthatch is already busy renovating.

[00:11:17]With his little beak, he can fix the interior  just as well as the original builder.

[00:11:30]But is this the sort of place where  you want to bring up your children?

[00:11:39]It's all a little too noisy  for the spotted woodpecker.

[00:11:44]Maybe better to go back to the  forest to build the nursery.

[00:11:57]The Blackwoodpecker couple moved into their  new home ages ago and they're all sorted out.

[00:12:15]Blackwood peckers lay their eggs early in the  year. They're already brooding their clutch, while the great spotted hasn't  even decided where to live.

[00:12:37]The black woodpecker female is  understandably wary. Birds can never let their guard drop. Keep an eye on  your home or you could soon be without it.

[00:13:11]A great spotted woodpecker can't  challenge his bigger black cousin, but he has no problem dealing  with smaller squatters.

[00:13:29]A wagtail family took over one of his  old holes and the landlord isn't happy.

[00:13:52]Chucking out their eggs is a  brutally effective eviction, and the wagtails are homeless. The landlord  may pretend he wants the hole for his own use.

[00:14:06]In reality, the spotted woodpecker doesn't want  competition in his territory. One story higher, he's finally found a home to raise his family.

[00:14:35]Right now in the breeding season,  there are four-legged threats, too.

[00:15:10]This time, a starling's  clutch is lost to a raccoon.

[00:15:32]A serious setback for the starings, but  they still have time for a second brood.

[00:15:44]But maybe in a safer place.

[00:15:54]If a treehouse in the forest is too dangerous, an  apartment in town can seem an idyllic alternative.

[00:16:08]Woodpeckers have dug more than 30 apartments here.

[00:16:18]For those unlucky starings or for a  bird returning late from the south, this walled community has definite attractions.

[00:16:33]Starings are sociable birds, but living so close together often  leads to rows with your neighbors.

[00:16:53]In a community like this, you can't  get on with everyone. And some tenants just rub the stings up the wrong way.

[00:17:10]This rough facade is like  tree bark for a squirrel.

[00:17:16]No problem to reach its top floor apartment.

[00:17:40]All the rooms are soon taken.

[00:17:44]A good thing, too. Now is not the  time to be exposed to the elements.

[00:17:56]And the woodpeckers have even designed  some homes with protection from the rain.

[00:18:14]You can even have a door with a porch in the  forest. This is a very desirable residence.

[00:18:34]When the month of May knows sun and  rain, the grass will tee with food again.

[00:18:43]And that means a good start for  the spotted woodpeckers chicks.

[00:18:51]up to seven in a clutch.

[00:18:57]Minute by minute, their parents return  with gnats, caterpillars, and ants.

[00:19:06]They clear the waste on the way  out so the nest stays clean.

[00:19:18]All right, The black woodpeckers are  feeding a brood now, too.

[00:20:12]Ants alone aren't enough, but combined  with ant eggs and fat worms, they make the perfect diet. Rotten  wood is the place to find them all.

[00:20:35]The parents mulch a rich mix and  regurgitate it for the young.

[00:20:49]These peckish peckers are nearly 3 weeks old.  Each chick stretches for the biggest bit.

[00:21:15]There's an extra special source  of food deep in the forest.

[00:21:34]For a fox cub, these red wood ants  are a new and itchy discovery.

[00:21:51]No problem for the green woodpecker.  And it's not the only winged ant lover.

[00:22:01]The rhyneck is no bigger than a  sparrow, but it's a woodpecker, too. Albeit one with a difference. It neither  pecks nor makes holes, and it migrates.

[00:22:18]It prefers meadow ants and black garden ants  that it sweeps up with its sticky tongue.

[00:22:32]A rather shy green woodpecker has discovered  the town in its own way. These old trees are great places to build a breeding hole  and the food supply is guaranteed.

[00:23:02]Hunting in gardens and parks that are regularly  moan is safer than in tall grass or dense woods.

[00:23:27]The rhinneck returns from the south in  May to a congested housing market with fewer suitable breeding holes in  fewer old trees than ever before.

[00:23:42]So, this couple take on a readymade nesting  box in an aotment right on the edge of town.

[00:23:54]They're raising 10 chicks at  once. They have plenty of food, but the squirrels are having a hard time.

[00:24:09]Nuts and acorns are still months away,  and many of their winter stores are empty.

[00:24:22]There's one last resort. Squirrels  are occasional carnivores.

[00:24:34]They'll clear out a clutch of eggs. And  if there are chicks, they'll do too.

[00:24:55]But if chicks aren't safe in  town, how dangerous are the woods.

[00:25:11]After 4 weeks, the young black woodpeckers  have fledged a leap into a new life.

[00:25:25]It could be a short one.

[00:25:38]The enemy is waiting.

[00:25:48]Timing is all.

[00:26:09]The spotted woodpecker fledglings are  getting too big for the nest. Their parents tempt them out with food.

[00:26:24]Once they leave, there's no going back.

[00:26:50]A plucky one leads the way and then the others follow.

[00:27:05]The last one has made it out.

[00:27:11]But a fledgling has to be careful.

[00:27:28]The gosh hawk will only raise his brood  when he's sure there's enough food.

[00:27:35]Easy prey like the young of other birds.

[00:27:43]An inexperienced great spotted fledgling.

[00:27:50]The death of one young bird  means life for another.

[00:28:08]So the cycle of life continues.

[00:28:15]Some eat insects. Others  eat those that eat insects.

[00:28:27]And the leftovers are eaten by insects.

[00:28:37]And it's all biodedegradable.

[00:28:52]The pygmy owl also hunts birds, but in the daytime  he could himself become the gosh hawk's prey.

[00:29:06]Just 19 cm tall, the pygmy owl is  smaller than a spotted woodpecker, and it'll use its holes to  sleep or to rear its own brood.

[00:29:26]It's a dangerous tenant,  especially in the dark hours.

[00:29:45]Birds that don't have a  home meet in sleeping trees.

[00:29:55]The owl can get them either  way, on a branch or in a hole.

[00:30:39]Just as life begins and ends, night  disappears. appears and a new day dawns.

[00:30:51]Beginning with an earsplitting wakeup  call for all the tenants on the block.

[00:31:04]It's the young starling chicks and they're excited about worms for breakfast.

[00:31:33]But in town, the cycle of life remains incomplete.

[00:32:01]Starlings breed twice or three times a year. The  second generation is already leaving the house.

[00:32:21]This is the best time for young birds.  There's so much ripe fruit in the next door garden. And the cherries are especially good.

[00:32:41]A cherry is too big to swallow in one go.

[00:32:50]Everyone has their own way of  breaking it into beak-sized morsels.

[00:33:00]This young spotted woodpecker  has found the scrumptious fruits, but hasn't quite worked it out.

[00:33:15]His parents show him how woodpeckers do it.

[00:33:28]They hammer a notch into a tree  trunk and jam the cherries in.

[00:33:43]Other birds marvel, but it's quite easy really.

[00:33:50]The young get to feed and learn.

[00:33:59]But why go to all this trouble when  the table is literally laid for you?

[00:34:30]Starlings are not just disputatious  tenants. They'll fight over free food, too.

[00:34:55]But a spotted woodpecker won't worry if he can't find pre-cracked nuts. He can  manage perfectly well on his own.

[00:35:09]On his blacksmith's branch, he's hacked an anvil hole with his  beak as a hammer to crack the shells.

[00:35:25]And there's a bit left over for daintier beaks.

[00:35:35]A woodpecker will make lots of these anvils  in a single tree and use them for years.

[00:35:46]Some seem to be better than others.

[00:36:07]In woodpecker world, it's getting colder.  Many birds have left for the south.

[00:36:30]The ones that stay are getting ready for winter.

[00:36:42]That means building up fat reserves  and laying down fresh supplies.

[00:36:52]The spotted woodpecker is moving again.

[00:36:58]Something's going on.

[00:37:17]Can he be stymied by styrofoam?

[00:37:28]Once a spotted woodpecker has found an attractive  place to stay, it's hard to get him out.

[00:37:45]And a bird frightener has no effect at all.

[00:38:29]Winter is really the toughest time for birds.

[00:38:39]The generous food supply in town makes life  easier, but there are dangers here, too.

[00:39:12]Somehow though, everyone adapts to the conditions.

[00:39:17]Green woodpeckers can even  spot ants under the snow.

[00:39:24]And in winter, great spotted  woodpeckers don't need anvils in trees.

[00:39:52]And an approaching enemy is easy to spot.

[00:40:11]Some birds of passage have noticed that winters  are getting milder. Starlings are giving up the long journey south. Humans give them food  and woodpeckers build warm, insulated homes.

[00:40:27]Urban living is a viable alternative  even for many forest species.

[00:40:44]Woodpeckers need an unbroken stretch of  forest and the oldest possible trees.

[00:40:53]But they're not the only ones who value  them. And they're becoming rarer and rarer.

[00:41:43]After the winter, hope springs  eternal. Eternal in the forest.

[00:41:54]Hope for a safe home and a new family.

[00:42:14]Woodpeckers have conquered the towns, too. Now  they're easy to see and impossible to ignore.

[00:42:27]And all because they know how to use their head.