Ted Becker writes (with very very long lines, please cut them Ted!):
> So, in addition to Steve's question, is it possible Downy Woodpeckers
> contract out tree excavating services?

It reminds me an interaction between a Wood Nuthatch _Sitta europaea_
and a Great Spotted Woodpecker _Dendrocopos major_.
The Wood Nuthatch nests in tree cavities (usually woodpecker holes) and
plaster the entrance with mud to make the hole adapted to its own size.
Usually of course, adopted nests are not occupied by Woodies.
However, sometime it turns sour: such a case has been filmed (I guess
by these guys from the BBC, they are just amazing...):
The Nuthatch would plaster the entrance for a while;
then the Woodpecker would come and destroy all the Nuthatch's work;
the Nuthatch's would come back and start again...
Apparently, it took sometime before the dispute was settled.
I don't know who won though, for I didn't see this movie myself :-(

Maybe it's on Richard Attenborough's stuff together with the
Gull/Puffin story...


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