Wednesday 18 August 2010

Woodpecker Feeding Signs

I have posted quite a few photos of the marks, mainly holes, that woodpeckers leave on trees when feeding. Many are diagnostic or at least can be narrowed down to a few species. Of course, knowing the range and habitat preferences of each species also helps when wishing to name the woodpecker that made any markings found. But sometimes, with some feeding marks, I would say that it is impossible to positively state which species made them. Here in this photo is an example. It is an old, rotten beech tree riddled with fungi and the holes and marks of a feeding woodpecker or woodpeckers. I took it in an upland forest in Slovakia where up to 8 woodpecker species occur and most of them could have fed here.

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