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Hard Knocks and Happy Endings….A Woodpecker Makes His Way Home
Woodpeckers seem to have a knack for getting themselves into trouble, especially those who live in close proximity to homes and businesses. Many woodpeckers make themselves right at home in our backyards, placing them perilously close to one of the biggest threats to birds – windows. Each year, hundreds of thousands of birds are injured…
Flicker Fanatics
The VINS Wildlife Services department has become a temporary home to 10 young northern flickers, a type of woodpecker. The birds came from two separate cavity nests, and as you will see in our video, the brood is causing quite a stir! This time of year, a lot of people are getting yard work done,…
In the ‘Neck’ of Time
This pileated woodpecker was found along a road, unable to fly, in Middlebury, VT. With a wing injury, a gaping wound on her neck, and a snowstorm on the way, this girl was rescued just in the nick of time! Thank you to the couple who drove this bird several hours to VINS on a…
My, what a long beak you have.
Woodpeckers need strong, long beaks to jackhammer their way into trees and get to the insects and sweet sap below the bark. But this downy woodpecker spotted in Hartland, VT? His long beak is grossly oversized. Throughout the United States, biologists are finding birds sporting extra-long beaks. Known as avian keratin disorder, this deformity occurs…
Wild & Wonderful Woodpecker
By Jessamy Schwartz VINS AmeriCorps Member “All these injured birds are here because they share something in common. They are all here because someone cared enough to take the time to pick them up and bring them here,” said VINS Education Intern Sarah Sincerbeaux, at a recent raptor program. Watch a video of the pileated’s…
The Success of a Mess
How often in life is it possible to gauge success by the severity of a mess? In the case of an injured woodpecker, that’s just what we are going for! This beautiful female hairy woodpecker came into VINS on June 22nd after flying into a window. We know she is female because a male of…
Hairy vs. Downy Woodpeckers
Today at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science we released a female Hairy Woodpecker that recently recovered from a cat attack. You may see this species at your feeder this winter. But you also may see the Downy woodpecker, which is virtually identical. So how do you tell them apart? Downy Woodpeckers are smaller, averaging…
Goodbye, Downy!
The young downy woodpecker admitted as a patient to the Wildlife Services department after being struck by a car was released back into the wild July 2. Watch a video of the woodpecker’s release back into the wild! Still a fledgling when she first came in, we had to hand-feed her every hour. In time,…
Knockin’ Away
What would the woods be without woodpeckers? Terribly boring! Woodpeckers — with their high-pitched cackles and persistent knocking on trees, homes and metal frames — keep the forests and neighborhoods rockin’. See a video of the woodpecker here! We recently received a fledgling downy woodpecker — about 4 weeks old — into our care. The…