Woodpecker behaviour

[flicrat]

13 year old granddaughter and I were on a sponsored walk when we got waylaid watching a great spotted woodpecker. It was way above our heads, but we could see it well throught the leaves.We were drawn to its presence by a one note call repeated - at that stage no idea what was making it.We saw it pecking away at the tree branch, but we could hear no noise. Does that mean it is a) a female? b) a juvenile or c) does the male only drum in spring for mating and territorial purposes? Thank you experts!

[FredPuli43]

According the RSPB website, the bird may be noticed because of its distinctive drumming in Spring, so the behaviour must be seasonal.

[rowanwitch]

possibly just making contact calls to juveniles nearby pecking at the tree branch for food. Drumming is seasonal

[flicrat]

Thank you both. Seasonal it is! It was wonderful to watch. There must be a shock to the system down through the neck with such vigorous taps.

[FredPuli43]

No real vigorous shock from drumming. That's because the woodpecker has built in shock absorbers which absorb the impact, otherwise its poor little brain would suffer percussive trauma. Seeing one doing it, it is a wonder that it doesn't break something on itself, but it has spongy bone tissue in its head, which deadens the shock.

[flicrat]

Thanks for that FredPuli. fascinating stuff.