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
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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