Thursday, September 10, 2020

Warring Woodpeckers

 We don't generally think of woodpeckers as being particularly, well, sophisticated creatures.

But acorn woodpeckers, I tell you.

These birds create "granaries" that then house multiple breeding pairs. Needless to say, these become valuable.

Valuable enough to throw battle royales over. No kidding.

The war can last several days and involves same sex coalitions of related birds who may have been building their strength for years.

Oh, and even better? All the birds in the area that aren't competing come watch. It's like bird territory football. With occasional fatalities. Maybe they're looking for strong birds to ask to join their own mating groups?

Woodpeckers. Seriously.

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