Great news Francis! Thanks for keeping us posted!
*Liz*
*Elizabeth I. Gayner*
*OR/WA BLM Peregrine Falcon Technical Coordinator*
*Lead Wildlife Biologist - Swiftwater Field Office*
Bureau of Land Management - Roseburg District Office
Phone: (541) 464-3381; egayner@xxxxxxx
On Sat, May 30, 2015 at 6:03 PM, Francis Eatherington <
francis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks Liz and Janice for the advice.
This story seems to be on it's way to a happy ending.
The woodpecker banged it's head on our window (now draped with extra
beads) at about 11:00 a.m. and laid on it's back for about 15 minutes,
wiggling its feet and breathing heavy, when I found it. I put the cloth
over it and moved it to the grass, in the shade, at about 11:15.
By noon it had not moved and seemed to be hardly breathing. Maybe it was
dead. The shade had left, and the woodpecker was now laying in the hot sun.
I decided to move it back into shade. As I reached for the rag, it suddenly
came-to and fluttered away from me, dragging a wing. I backed off. It sat
there, awake for the first time, and moving it's head around and around, as
if to say, Where Am I? How Did I Get Here? It's beak was open.
10 minutes of this, and then it FLEW onto the bole of a small madrone tree
about 10 feet away, and landed just a feet up the tree.
And there it sat, not moving again, *for another 4 hours!* I was glad it
was able to further recover sitting up in a woodpecker perched position, in
the shade again, and that it was actually able to fly.
By 5 p.m., it was still sitting in the same tree, but had climbed a bit
higher. By 5:30 it started to move a bit more, climbed a little higher,
stretched it wings, and started looking around in earnest. Suddenly it few
again into another tree about 30' away. There it sits now, so far for a
half hour, but the signs are good it can fully recover.
This afternoon we watched the female feed the nestlings in the walnut tree
(about 200 feet away from where the male had it's accident). So hopefully
she is taking care of the kids until he can get back to work.
francis
On May 30, 2015, at 4:06 PM, Elizabeth Gayner <egayner@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
If it doesn't seem to be getting better... Umpqua wildlife rescue could
try to rehab it... (541) 440-6895.
Liz Gayner
On May 30, 2015 2:13 PM, <jeoreid@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Francis,
If it is just a matter of it hitting its head, I think it just needs a
little time. At the wrong angle, it could have suffered some damage.
Woodpeckers are resilient when it comes to brain injury.
http://www.ibtimes.com/why-don%E2%80%99t-woodpeckers-get-brain-damage-435728
A small box where you can provide some darkness and quiet is all they
need sometimes.
Janice
Sent from Windows Mail
*From:* Francis Eatherington <francis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Saturday, May 30, 2015 11:56 AM
*To:* umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I heard it fly into our window, and found it laying on it's back on our
deck, breathing heavily. I put the cloth over it and laid it in a safe
place in the grass in the shade, and tried to prop it's head up a bit.
It's been about 30 minutes. It's still breathing, shaking now and then.
We have a hairy woodpecker nest in a dead branch at the top of our old
walnut tree. We've been watching the adults feeding the nestlings. Gosh, I
hope the babies survive this as well.
Francis
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