"Freezing" Can Be Key To Bird's Survival A pileated woodpecker feeds on suet, always wary of nearby hawks A very brief and simple episode took place in our front yard a few years ago that helped to focus our attention on the great and on-going challenges to wildlife, especially during the coldest spells of winter. At least two or more white-breasted nuthatches were making many daily visits to the beef suet feeder in view from our south kitchen windows. I say that at least two were seen regularly because one was a male having the typical black cap, the other a female as told by her dark gray cap. Two fairly common birds of prey, the northern goshawk and sharp-shinned hawk, and one predacious songbird, the northern shrike, were on the scene several times a week. Like it or not, we came to expect their presence and realized their long-range importance. Obviously the hawks and shrikes kept the songbirds on guard at all times. Such was the case with a female white-breasted nuthatch one day. A genuine attack occurred. All creatures including the red squirrels made headlong dashes for safety, and the yard was absolutely deserted. Seconds later in flew the unsuspecting female nuthatch to the suet feeder. We saw her land and could immediately read terror in every feather. She absolutely FROZE in her head-downward position. Not even her eyes blinked! That little bob-tailed defier of gravity remained riveted to the spot for at least five minutes. It required a brave black-capped chickadee, buzzing in for a sunflower seed nearby, to break the spell and bring an end to the alert. The stocky-legged nuthatch with the wide stance had obviously learned her lessons of survival extremely well. Her ability to remain absolutely motionless for relatively long periods of time also caused her to become virtually invisible to her predators. Perhaps her black, white and gray color pattern imparted to her a natural interruption of outline making her body blend perfectly with the surroundings. The relatively mild weather and open ground within the past month have resulted in more raptors remaining in the area. Included have been American kestrels, and rough-legged, red-tailed, Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks. Because the female hawks are considerably larger than the males, it has been difficult for us to determine whether we’ve been regularly seeing a larger female sharp-shinned or a smaller male Cooper’s hawk on our property. They are both roughly the same size. Our best educated guess has been a female sharp-shinned hawk. What we do know is that this speedy raptor, whose victims are predominantly small songbirds, has been keeping the birds at our feeders on edge for the past several weeks. It was on the 15th of this month that the male pileated woodpecker arrived at the suet feeder in our front yard at 7:48 AM, fed continuously for ten minutes, then flew off toward the southeast. By 8:18 AM he was back for more beef suet. A couple dozen mourning doves were feeding at the cracked corn scattered on the ground near the suet feeder, and we got to wondering if "Piley" had come to depend upon the doves for indicating that the "coast was clear." Suddenly there was a WHOSH and all the doves took off in a frenzy. Piley immediately leaned back and froze into position. Ever so slowly he pulled his head inward toward his shoulders and began waiting out the imminent danger. Nearby were two hairy woodpeckers, also frozen into position as they clung to the trunk of a small ironwood, and one mourning dove perched motionlessly upon the ground. It wasn’t until 8:36 AM, eighteen minutes later, that two downy woodpeckers and two chickadees flew down to the feeders, indicating that the hawk had flown elsewhere. All that time Piley had absolutely not budged. Now he ate a small amount of suet, then flew to a nearby dead maple, looked in all directions, and finally flew to the tallest basswood tree west of the driveway. There he worked his way up to the high branches, carefully scanned the countryside and at 8:40 AM flew off to Flock’s woods toward the southeast. Many birders, especially those who carry on a winter bird feeding program, will sympathize with the small birds and outrightly condemn the hawk. The small bird of prey becomes labeled a "murderous villain." Some of these energetic awe-inspiring raptors will be shot by the overly zealous and protective nature-lover or sportsman in spite of the little-known fact that all birds of prey are protected by Wisconsin law. We all must remember that cottontails, ruffed grouse, pileated woodpeckers AND hawks have existed together in wildlife communities in this region for thousands of years prior to the arrival of people. In the case that you wish to discover the most dangerous threat to our natural environment, plants, and animals, and the most logical place for environmental awareness, tolerance and involvement to begin – look into a mirror! Also see: 05/21/99: Frustrating, Fascinating Warblers Are Back 12/24/99: Fascinating "Impalers" Abundant This Winter 02/26/99: Albino Birds Not Unusual in This Area 06/04/99: Broad-Winged Hawks Not Cause For Alarm 03/05/99: March Means Courtship For Many Birds 06/25/99: Put Out Water For All The Wild Animals This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 01/28/2000. © Copyright 2000 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.