Great spotted woodpeckers feeding on the nectar of red-hot pokers

1 Pages·2002·0.74 MB·

by  John Mitchell

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amongstus,theyarealsoverygoodeating.Clearly researchisneededontheroleofanimalssuchas
theimpactoftheKestrelwiththepigeoninflight theseinurbanenvironment.
hadkilledthepigeoninstantaneouslyTheKestrel References
leftthedeadpigeonmomentarily,jumpedontoa Elton,C. 1927.AnimalEcology.Sidgwick&Jackson,
woodenhalfbarrelcontainingearth,andbeganto London.
wacglrnaeodsaunnsfdeil.etesnwAbtbehooafrukfo,tuognlfhietftahthveeeienwnkgoimotitcdhnh.eeuntAedtwseitanhldadattoepwpri.ogiaenTntohonitishteostrnaimwbetiuhrisedt RDWKRieirysclenktablnrtseiie,fbo-sunC,Et.idJtRo.ow.nEaS1.aro9ncd71ids29a.7,Al3bE.BucVeno..hdElCacao.vogn/iycoo.eg1uy.9r.T6.Hh2Tae.OhrlEopiAxmevpnreaeirsRrm&oiNamweleB,lnsotNDoyanidel,s,wpAeLEnYrodaosnilridynkosob.innus.rgiohnf
wasamagpiethathadalightedandbeguntoeatthe andLondon.
deadpigeon.Themagpiewasencouragetoleave,
haindddetnheunddeeardapiwgoeoondpduitsplinayaunpdoelyrtthheeneovbearghaangn.d GlGaRsEgoAwTNaStuPraOlTisTt.E2D00W2.OOVoDlP24E.CPKarEtR1.S98
The bag remained there until darkness fell. FEEDINGONTHENECTAROFRED-HOT
Howeveritdisappearedovernight.Presumablythis POKERS
wasafoxorferalcat. JohnMitchell
The kestrel incident, besides being extremely 22MuirparkWay,Drymen,G63ODX
interestingintermsofanurbansitingofahighland Duringthewarmandsultryweatherexperiencedin
birdinthecity,showshowtoppredatorssuchas early July 2001, A. & D. MacFadyendrewmy
thekestrel,themagpie,andpresumablyafoxor attention to a family group of Great Spotted
cat,compete formeat inanurbanenvironment. woodpeckers Dendrocopos major repeatedly
Interestingly enough, kestrels are now fairly visiting a tall clump ofSouth African red-hot
common in Glasgow, and kestrels and sparrow pokersKniphofia uvaria in awest Stirlingshire
hawksareknowntonestontheUniversitycampus garden. Bothadultsandaleastonejuvenilewould
(personalcommunication-JamesMunro). individuallyalightononeoftherigidstemsofthe
Thesecondexampleisinterestingbecauseitisan plant, just below the large flowering head.
interactionbetweenamammalandabird.During Binoculuarobservationsatclosequartersshowed
October 1998 on the University of Glasgow that the woodpeckers were drinking droplets of
campus, twomagpieswereobservedattackingtwo nectarfromthependantperianthtubesoftheopen
squirrels.Theattackdevelopedasfollows.Thetwo yellowflowers. Eachbirdwouldspendseveral
magpiesattackedasinglesquirrelinanestona minutes working its way around a flowerhead
whitebeamoutsidetheWestMedicalBuildingon beforemovingontothenext,occasionallypausing
themainuniversitycampus.Thenestwasabout1 topick-offandeataninsectwhichhadalsobeen
to20metresabovetheground.Theattackinvolved attractedtothefeast. Subsequentenquiryproduced
considerablenoise,whichfirstdrewtheattentionof a similarrecord ofGreat Spotted woodpeckers
theobservertotheevent.Thenoiseconsistedof nectar-feeding on Red-hot pokers at Blackball,
screechesandflappingwings. Asecondsquirrel Edinburgh,inthesummerof1999(D.R.McKean,
thenappeared,apparentlyfromthenest,andjoined perscomm.)
inthefray.Theconfrontationbetweenthemagpies GreatSpottedwoodpeckersdrinkingthesapoozing
andthesquirrelslastedforabout15minutes.The out of the bark of trees in spring are well
magpieseventuallyceasedattackingandflewoff documented in northern Europe (Cramp et al.
Thesquirrelsappearedtogobackintothenest.The 1985),buttakingadvantageoftheavailabilityof
nestwasprobablyacrowsnest. Thequestionis sugar-rich nectar from a cultivated herbaceous
whatwerethesquirrelsandmagpiesfightingover, flowerinsummerisbehaviourthatappearstohave
inotherwordswhatwasinthenest? Itispossible beenlittleobservedinthespecies.
thatthemagpieswereusingthenesttoreartheir References
young,whereuponthesquirrelswerepresumably Camp, S. et al. (1985). The Birds ofthe Western
attemptingtopreyontheyoungofthemagpie.The PalearcticVol. IV:TernstoWoodpeekers. Oxford
otheralternativeisthatthenestmayhavebeenused UniversityPress.
as a dray by the squirrels, in which case the
magpies were attempting to prey on young
squirrels, and the two adult squirrels were GlasgowNaturalist.2002.Vol24.Pt1. 98-101
protecting theiroffspring. Neither alternative is HAECKELIANRADIOLARIANMATERIAL
nenotrimraellylycoansvsioncciiantge,dawsitahuttuhmenbriseendoitngatoifmmeatghpaiteiss ANDTHEMICRGOLSCAOSPGIOCWALSOCIETYOF
orsquirrels. P.GeoffreyMoore’ andRichardSutcliffe^
Thesetwosetsofobservationsontoppredatorsand ‘UniversityMarineBiologicalStation,Millport,
theiractivities inacityenvironmentshowhow IsleofCumbrae,KA28OEG
important aspects ofan animal’s predator/prey ^OpenMuseumNitshill,WoodheadRoad, South
statuscanbeeasilyrecorded. Theyalsoprovide NitshillIndustrialEstate,Glasgow,G537NN
good evidenceofthe way inwhichthe species Itisapleasuretoputonrecordtherecentreceiptof
interactwitheachother, and indicatethatmuch aboxofhistoricmicroscope slidesmostkindly
donatedtotheUniversityMarineBiologicalStation
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