Subject: [Tweeters] Avian alarm clock
Date: Sun May 3 11:31:04 PDT 2020
From: David A. Armstrong - davearm at uw.edu

It started about a month back, and continues daily to this morning.
Anywhere from 5:30-6:30AM, we are jolted from deep sleep by the staccato
jack-hammer drumming of northern flickers on metal rain gutters all around
the neighborhood on Mutiny Bay, S Whidbey Island. When just 5' outside the
bedroom window, there's no place to hide....you are instantly awake. And no
way to sleep again as you wait for the next burst that will follow in 20-30
seconds. But they are a tricky bird, and a minute might elapse...you think
"OK, they're done", close your eyes, drop to the pillow, and then they let
lose again in response to a distant drum from another bird.
We have never in 16 years encountered such frequent, incessant drumming on
metal surfaces. Compared to some old tree, the metal drumming really
projects far and wide. You come to realize that the "musical" quality of
the drumming surface (rain gutter, satellite dish, hard- or soft-wood tree)
isn't the species-specific attractant, it's the absolutely precise
frequency of the cadence/rhythm of the drum. Dennis Paulson emphasized use
of drumming as a species trait last year in the master birding class. He is
right; and I dread 5:30 AM tomorrow.
david armstrong
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