What does the woodpecker eat in the forest? Woodpecker on the tree: photo

Today we will talk about the woodpecker. Who is this, what he eats, where he lives - all these topics we will consider.

Description of a woodpecker

Woodpecker is an unusual bird that lives exclusively in the forests, only because there are a lot of trees there. Their feathers on the tail are very stiff, and the claws are sharp, so they perfectly climb trees. The beak of these birds is strong and sharp, and the muscles on the neck are strong, so they can chisel thick wood, rip off the hard bark, not at the expense of their health. Many people are interested in why the woodpeckers do not have a headache from such strokes and there is no concussion.

Chinese scientists have conducted a study of the bird and concluded: the bird's brain is very strongly adjacent to the skull, because of what it can not be shaken. There are many species of woodpeckers: over 200 species have been counted. In our forests revealed one most common, which is called the large variegated.

"The bird in flight"

A woodpecker flies with great reluctance, but if necessary, then flutters very quickly due to the stamina and strength of the wings. This bird likes to fly from one branch to another. Most of their time they crawl along the trunks with pleasure. A woodpecker feels like a fish in the water. He can climb on it not only upwards, but also upside down, perfectly while feeling himself.

Danger

If he sees the danger, he does not immediately fly away, but hides behind the back of the trunk and sits there, periodically sticking out his head. If the predator has crept very close, only then the woodpecker flaps its wings and flies away from the enemy. As you know, this is an incomplete description of the woodpecker. Since these birds are very diverse, each species has its own habits, habits and so on. These creatures are defenseless, so they are haunted by hawks, falcons, owls and other similar predators. Magpies destroy their nests. Therefore, woodpeckers know very well places in their forest, where you can hide from predators. Due to this, they feel comfortable in this area, they react quickly to any kind of danger, they are well-oriented in how they can get food.

Feeding birds in the warm season

What does the woodpecker eat in the summer? He is looking for insects that are on the surface of the bark and under it. It can be a variety of beetles, caterpillars, butterflies, bark beetles. By their actions, woodpeckers often save trees from disease. Therefore, they are called forest nurses. But only in those places where there are diseased trees that are eaten by bugs. If the woodpecker moves to a young healthy tree, begins to hollow it, spoils the bark, then from the orderly it turns into a pest. Also this bird can use some vegetation, for example, berries, seeds, even nuts - depending on the season.

In the warm season, it eats mostly small invertebrate insects, which it discovers on the surface of trees, shrubs and under their bark. If a woodpecker wants to get his food out of a deep crack, he puts his tongue in there, which is very long and sticky (extraction sucked into it). So he takes food out of the far corners. When these birds were examined, they concluded that at the end of the summer they mostly used those insects that harmed the forest (live in the trunk tissues). In early summer, a woodpecker can find raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, which he enjoys with pleasure. In search of subsistence, the bird prefers to inspect trees such as oak and beech that are already drying up. Ash and birch woodpeckers are not very fond of, so they fly to them in extreme cases. Lime and aspen are certainly not their trees. If these birds saw a place where there is a lot of food, then they do not fly out from there until it is exhausted.

If the woodpecker hits dead ground mixtures, then he likes to sit on the middle of the trunk or on the top crown more. A woodpecker like and defenseless, but if desired he can become a predator: he should see a nest of a weaker bird, he flies there, smashes her eggs, eats chicks. As it turned out, he would not refuse meat. In summer, the food of woodpeckers is quite extensive. In the autumn it is harder for them to look for food. But they still find it, because they feed seasonally.

Meals in autumn

What does the woodpecker eat in the forest in the autumn period? The study showed that its food is ashberry, juniper, cowberry, plum bones, nuts. Usually, acorn harvests the acorns for the winter, and do not eat them in the autumn. But it is very interesting to crush plum bones or a nut. He puts them in a crack that formed on the bark of a tree. Breaks the shell so that a wide hole is obtained, and takes out the core from there. The woodpecker absolutely does not care how thick a stone or nut has, thanks to its solid beak, it will cope with any shell.

He also contrived to extract the seed of a coniferous tree, which is still green - spruce, pine, fir, cedar and others. This feed is mainly used in woodpeckers beginning in October, and ending in March, sometimes in early April. Getting seeds, they do not forget to chop trees in search of invertebrates.

Food in winter

Scientists have examined this bird and determined what the woodpecker feeds in the forest in winter. Often these birds can be found in plantings that are very close to residential buildings - they are often fed by people (they build feeders and hang in the nearest public gardens). In such places there are also trees, in the bark of which you can get different insects, beetles. But in winter they are very few, so woodpeckers can often be seen on conifers, where cones grow. When the scientists found out what the woodpecker feeds in the winter, then the teachers began to give the task to the schoolchildren, mainly in labor lessons, to make feeders for the birds, so that it would be a little easier for the feathered to survive.

In the cones are already ripe, nutritious and delicious seeds, which these birds get very interesting. They thrust a bump between the slots so that it fit very tightly and did not fall. Holding it with a breast, the woodpecker hits it with its strong beak, thus revealing its scales, and takes out everything edible from there. They usually do not tolerate the fruit of larch, but click directly on the place. If the cones are very large and they are inconvenient to insert a gap, they can bring their find to the ground and choose seeds there. These birds are also found in various landfills where you can find crumbs or small caterpillars. This is what the woodpecker feeds in winter.

How much do they eat?

Large birds can consume fir seeds (up to 10 grams per day) and pine (about 6 grams). When bumps need to be cut, birds make for themselves smithies from dry cracks or stumps. If special holes are not found by the woodpecker, then he can easily make such holes himself, so that a bone, nut or coniferous fruit can be inserted there.

They make a lot of smithies, so that when you find solid food you should carry it nearby (usually it is not more than 10 meters). In this case, the pine fruit is planted in a vertical position, and the spruce is in the transverse position. In the walnut, it simply makes a large hole, so that it is easy to get out the core from there. It turns out that woodpecker still is not easy enough to survive in winter, as well as many animals.

Meal in the spring season

There comes a long-awaited spring. What does the woodpecker eat in the forest during this period? First of all, after winter, he needs to be fattened, so he immediately looks for nests of small birds, where the eggs are, and drinks them directly on the spot. He kidnaps the chicks: he puts it into the smithy at the forge, cuts it, and eats it. He can also take them to his children. And from a good orderly a woodpecker turns into a bird of prey.

When the trees begin to wake up, the juice begins to appear inside them, the birds will pierce the bark (especially prefer the birch) and drink it. Also woodpeckers at this time very much find invertebrates of insects. That is, the variety of food after the winter increases. Again they start making funnels in the trees - thus widening the passages through which the insects move. Then they put in there their long, rough and sticky tongue and get edible creatures. In these moments, woodpeckers come across not only larvae, but also large insects, so the birds quickly gorge on. When the first buds appear on the trees, the woodpeckers immediately consume them. However, birds need to eat a lot of kidneys in order to satisfy hunger. Some plants begin to bloom already in early spring. The woodpecker quickly discovers and sows seeds. In the woods in spring, birds find nuts that have been preserved under the leaves since last year.

In order to find their livelihood in the spring, they have to not only climb trees, but also to go down to the ground, where there are a lot of ants, worms.

Conclusion

Now you know who the woodpecker is. The photos presented in the article will help you to become more familiar with the appearance of this bird. We also figured out what she eats and where she lives. We hope, now it is clear to you what the woodpecker is eating in nature.