snousle

Getting pictures of our local woodpeckers has turned out to be really hard! They're loud and abundant, but they never stop moving. I've kept the camera by the door for this express purpose for almost a week. A whole family will land in a tree, but by the time I get the camera aimed and focused, they've gone on to the next one. With the sound they make, you'd swear they're laughing at you.

Anyway, I got lucky yesterday evening and caught a few. The light wasn't good, but at least you can see what they look like. As birds go, they're high entertainment - always squabbling and chasing each other around, striking funny poses, and so forth.

They're obviously the official bird of our household, what with their ambiguous, shifting, but highly functional family life: "Field studies have shown that breeding groups range from monogamous pairs to breeding collectives of seven males and three females, plus up to 10 nonbreeding helpers. Young have been found with multiple paternity.". Heh. You might call them the "hippies of the sky" - their communal living habit and uncertain parentage is what makes the maintenance of their granaries possible. It's particularly refreshing after hearing all kinds of nauseating BS about avian monogamy. PENGUINS??? WE PECK YOU TO DEATH!!!