Red-headed Woodpecker and Red-winged Blackbird Interaction
/Once upon a time (last Thursday), on a Wildlife Area not TOO far away (Cheyenne Bottoms WA in Kansas), I spotted a Red-headed Woodpecker feeding while using the wooden fence posts along one of the access roads as temporary perches before launching attacks on prey.
Red-headed Woodpecker - Cheyenne Bottoms WA, Kansas - May 2021
Olympus E-M1X with 150-400mm f4.5 TC lens @ 500mm
1/3200 sec at f/6.3, ISO 4000
I adjusted the camera settings to optimize acquisition of images of the woodpecker in flight and watched the behavior of the bird carefully through the viewfinder looking for any indication the bird was about to fly. The appearance of a Red-winged Blackbird in the viewfinder was a complete surprise.
Olympus E-M1X with 150-400mm f4.5 TC lens @ 500mm
1/3200 sec at f/6.3, ISO 4000
Even more surprisng was seeing the blackbird land on the post, and then appear to “say something” to the woodpecker before it took off while the woodpecker was changing positions on the post..
Olympus E-M1X with 150-400mm f4.5 TC lens @ 500mm
1/3200 sec at f/6.3, ISO 4000
Olympus E-M1X with 150-400mm f4.5 TC lens @ 419mm
1/3200 sec at f/6.3, ISO 4000
Olympus E-M1X with 150-400mm f4.5 TC lens @ 383mm
1/3200 sec at f/6.3, ISO 4000
This behavioral sequence triggered my curiosity about interspecies communication in birds. An interesting discussion of this topic can be found using this LINK.
Olympus E-M1X with 150-400mm f4.5 TC lens @ 500mm
1/3200 sec at f/6.3, ISO 4000
This is the first frame in the burst of exposures after the blackbird flew away. It would be anthropomorphic to label this a Pictorial Definition of Relief. An enlargement of the woodpecker’s head is shown below.