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Show t ' : ' y , if : . I jf fif Lewis's Woodpecker C1952 National Wildlife Federation A Western Crow is about IV2 feet long. The Lewis's Woodpecker is only about two thirds that length or just under a foot. The general appearance of the woodpecker wood-pecker may superficially remind one of a crow because at a distance dis-tance it looks black. The flight, however, is not the slow, leisurely maneuver of the crow but more business-like behavior typical of the woodpeckers. Like the Redheaded Red-headed Woodpecker, the Lewis's Woodpecker frequently captures insects in flight. Like all woodpeckers wood-peckers it usually ends its flight by an abrupt upward swing that brings it in position to come to rest 00 a vertical tree trunk, fence post or similar support. A gray collar breaks the otherwise other-wise glossy greenish upper parts of this woodpecker. The face is a dull crimson and the chest gray. The gray of the chest however, changes to a rose towards the belly. No other woodpecker could be easily confused with it. In the young birds the red of the head is replaced by black or dusky and the distinctive collar is obscure or missin. The sexes in the adult stage are colored alike. Unlike some of its relatives this woodpecker wood-pecker is usually phenomenally quiet but in breeding season and occasionally in migration it has a harsh churring call that sounds woodpeckerish. The nest of the Lewis's Woodpecker Wood-pecker as one might expect is in a hole in a dead tree. It may be from 6 to 100 feet above the ground. In it, 6 or 7 dull white eggs are laid. The food of the Lewis's Wood- 1 pecker is varied with the seasons. I In summer the most important food is insects such as grasshoppers. grasshop-pers. In fact, where grasshoppers are abundant they make up practically prac-tically the whole diet. In the summer sum-mer season, however, in addition to crickets and grasshoppers, there may be ants, flies, spiders and similar small insects. There may also be raspberries, strawberries, juniper berries, service berries and salmon berries, though these do not constitute a major portion of the food. In some orchards the food mav be such injurious insects as codling cod-ling moths with the bird picking open the fruits that are being attacked at-tacked by the codling worms within. In fall and winter the diet shifts more wholly to plant foods. Ac-corns Ac-corns assume a prominent part and woodbine berries may be important. import-ant. At this time of the year the woodpeckers may appear in flocks which at a distance may add to the impression that crows are "being "be-ing seen. At such times the otherwise other-wise relatively quiet birds may keep up an incessant chattering which could not be expected from a flock of crows. Some of our western woodpeckers woodpeck-ers make a regular practice of storing acorns in holes in the trunks of trees. There is at least one report of a Lewis's Woodpecker Wood-pecker doing this but it is not a commonly observed characteristic judging from the literature. During Dur-ing migration the birds may circle in good-sized flocks. British Columbia to the .Black Hills and south to California and Kansas roughly marks the breeding breed-ing territory. Winters are spent from western Texas to Lower California Cal-ifornia and south into Mexico. E. Laurence Palmer |