Birds can be lowdown, dirty bastards. I have long known the Corvidae family is filled with birds willing to bluster and bully. Members of this family include ravens, jays, and magpies.
And then we have cowbirds. These sons-a-bitches, displace eggs from the
nests of other bird species and replace them with their eggs so the other birds
will raise and care for them.
Until recently, I considered
woodpeckers a nuisance in only a marginal sense. They made a bit of noise at times. That changed this spring. About a month ago, a particular (bastardish)
northern flicker decided it might be fun to the rap-ap-ap-ap-ap-ap-ap-ap
against the sheathing I exposed on my house for the purpose of attaching my new
sunroom.
Every few days, usually around
7:00 AM, the flicker takes a few raps against the house.
I rush outside and curse at
him.
While all of this has been
going on, I have enjoyed watching a pair of bluebirds flying in and out of the
nesting box I fixed to a post just in front of my house. They have been getting the nest inside the
box in spiffed-up for a new brood.
No more.
They are gone, thanks to the
northern flicker.
Following are two photographs
of what the flicker did to the bluebird box.
Left Side
Front and Right Side
— Mitchell Hegman
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