Dear Bird Correspondent, Theresa and I just returned from a walk, during which we witnessed three large redheaded woodpeckers having either a party or a fight. The noises they made were alarming! There was definitely something going down in birdland. They went, WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO or WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH - a tropical, monkeyish sound. It strikes me that perhaps this kind of sound is the basis for the famed Woody Woodpecker laugh. Or are you going to tell us that Theresa and I are crazy, and woodpeckers only make that pecking sound? That's the kind of thing you usually tell us! Something counterintuitive and depressingly true! Hey, bird correspondent, I think you would get a kick out of this Chris Bachelder essay on woodpeckers (or IS IT about woodpeckers? That's part of the mystery of the article). Any other thoughts on woodpeckers or personal woodpecker stories you have would be appreciated.
