The recent string of posts on the unexpected feeding habits of woodpeckers
was interesting - and raised a quiet chuckle in this quarter. The guesses
sent in in response to the "mystery birds" tweak included Crow & Raven,
Swainson's Thrush and Varied Thrush, and RSTowhee, but none of them were
the right ones. The seven birds grazing on the Orcas Island roadside with
eight Robins were Hairy Woodpeckers. The two relatives grazing further
down the road without any other company were Pileated Woodpeckers. I
couldn't figure out what they were all eating so intently that day. I
poked around in the forest litter on the roadside - it contained a variety
of tree seeds, a lot of ants (recent big hatching?), and some
caterpillars, but short of disemboweling a woodpecker I couldn't tell
even whether they were eating vegetable or animal matter.

James West