[TN-Bird] Red Bellied Woodpecker

From: "Paul Van Buren" <paulvanburen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 09:08:39 -0500
I have been watching a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers carry sunflower seeds 
from the bird feeder to the babies in a nest near our house. It is continuous 
flight back and forth.  I find it hard to believe the baby birds can eat the 
seeds.  The parents do rake a lot of seeds out of the feeder, perhaps searching 
for those pieces that can be fed to the babies.  I have tried to observe if the 
seeds are cracked or broken before feeding but to no avail.  Have any of you 
observed this type of behavior in woodpeckers?  I thought I observed it last 
year with the suet cakes in the feeder that resulted in the Downy Woodpecker 
bringing the babies to the feeder.
    Also, I have had two nests of Chickadee eggs destroyed by bumblebees that 
some how apparently break the eggs and then lay their eggs in the yolks.  Have 
any of you seen this before?
    Three of our Bluebird families have fledged and a fourth is ready today.  
It is really something to see the parents hover in front of the nest box 
calling out the fledglings one after another.  About half of them make it to a 
tree and the rest plop on the ground and hop toward cover.  I try to ward of 
the Red-shoulder hawks as last year they actually hovered in front of the nest 
boxes and pulled out some of Bluebird and Prothonotary fledglings.
    I finally resolved the "buzzing" outside our window when I located the 
Blue-gray Nat Catchers in the tree tops.
Submitted by Paul Van Buren, 515 Hillwood Dr. Mt. Juliet, TN 37122 (615 
758-4635) paulvanburen@xxxxxxxxxxx
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[TN-Bird] Red Bellied Woodpecker

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