Unwittingly, perhaps we are selecting for flicker heavy metal preference to some future point when they won't know what to do with a wood surface

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> On May 3, 2020, at 1:02 PM, Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns at gmail.com> wrote:

>

> 

> I have "Heavy Metal" drumming competitions on my morning walks through our Twin Lakes/Federal Way neighborhood frequently this time of the year. As David stated, gutters, drainpipes, chimney covers etc., but the top price goes to ... (drum roll) the flicker drumming on a satellite dish! What a sound! The only thing close to it, is a Pileated Woodpecker drumming on wood! Fortunately we don't have one close by this spring for a rude awakening!

>

> Good birding and stay safe!

>

> Hans

>

>> On Sun, May 3, 2020 at 11:31 AM David A. Armstrong <davearm at uw.edu> wrote:

>> 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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>

> --

> Hans Feddern

> Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA

> thefedderns at gmail.com

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