Over the last few years, I've watched the red-headed woodpeckers, and still can't determine their society. It's complicated, and how to tell the sexes is beyond my knowledge.
This morning, two were on the power pole. As I watched, the one on the very top would tap, and the one further down the pole would tap back. It was as though they were enticing each other like two bar patrons flirting at the bar. The one on top would tap, and the other would inch up closer after an answering tap. It went on for a few minutes...but trouble soon arrived.
Two others arrived, and fought on an adjacent power pole. One chased the other away, but another soon arrived to join the brawl. They all left, but one came back to land on the pole with the two at the "bar". That didn't set well with the one lower on the power pole, and it soon attacked the interloper. Both left, but one soon returned. I think it was the original one, since it started the tapping game.
The one on top, which I'm thinking is the female, soon resumed tapping, but the interchange was soon interrupted by the return of the other two, and an additional one. Now there was a total of three red-headed woodpeckers, and four were soon fighting and chasing each other. The pole was now empty, except the one on the top. Soon, it too flew away, but returned in a few minutes to start tapping.
One flew to land near the top, but that wasn't acceptable. The one on the top chased it away, and returned to sit and tap. The others flew around; fussing and chasing each other. Within a minute, one returned to the lower position on the pole, and answered the taps of the one on top. It left, and the one on top remained.
Eventually, one flew to the top of the pole, and the two there stared at each other for long moments. One flew away, and the other followed in about thirty seconds.
Past experience says mating will soon happen, and the proud parents will bring their young children in a few months. The young will be carbon-copies of the parents, but not have the red head. Eventually they will, and their acceptance at the feeder will be over. The parents will "break their plate" and force them to go out an seek their place in the woods.
Not seen were the red-bellied woodpecker. We have a few, and they defer to the red-headed woodpeckers. They'll avoid the feeder when the red-headed woodpeckers are there. Also, they'll steal the peanuts the red-headed woodpeckers place in the cracks on the power pole. The power struggle will last until early summer. After that, all the woodpeckers will disappear from the feeder and will only be seen flitting between the trees in the distance.
I've read that the red-headed woodpecker's range is threatened by the red-bellied woodpecker. Maybe so, but in my neck of the woods, the red-headed woodpecker calls the shots.
