Everywhere I’ve lived, East coast or West, SoCal or Seattle and all points between, there have been people outside of town who don’t want no revenuers coming by and when you ask them where they live they say some thing like “why do you need to know?” or, “about a half hour out of Garberville,” even if why you need to know is due to the fact they are bringing you a couple of nestling Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) who they say they found on the ground that morning, never mind that their feathers are damaged from captivity and that they already like being fed by people.
Such is the nature of working with people. It takes, as they say, all kinds.
We can’t force people to give us critical information. We can’t force people to be honest about when or where they found a wild animal, or how long they’ve had an animal in their possession. We aren’t law enforcement. It would be better if people in general understood that our mission is to serve the patient, not drop a dime on whatever fiddle they’ve got going on. Regardless, without the information of where their lives began, we admitted the two young woodpeckers from one of Humboldt’s warmer drier regions and began their care.
Woodpeckers of all species are a delight to know. These two babies were no exception.
When they were first admitted both young birds were missing all the feathers on the top of their heads. Not the best look for them, but the time they’d need in care for developing and learning to eat on their own and to fly would be long enough that their head feathers would re-grow in time for release. One of the woodpeckers had an older leg fracture that was healing well.
Care for these two was mostly opening the hatch on their nest box where we housed them before they were flying, giving them mealworms and crickets, keeping their environment clean and monitoring their steady progress. They were terrific eaters.
After moving to the aviary when they began to fly, they were wiping out crickets like mad… if youre going to make some Acorn Woodpeckers, first thing is to start with an unimaginably large pile of insects.
As with all babies, success means a time comes when they must launch into their own lives. Fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly. since we knew that these birds had originated a “half hour out of Garberville” but we didn’t know which direction, we decided to release them in Tooby Park, a large mixed forest, field and riparian park below town. It was a warm Sunday morning among the oaks there when arrived, a striking contrast to the chilly gray Manila weather we’d left behind.
While in care and during the car ride down to Garberville, the woodpeckers voices consistently reminded us of the sounds baby raccoons make. It leads one to wonder: Acorn, Racon? Just a coincidence?
Caring for these young Woodpeckers was a privilege, but it wasn’t without costs. This Summer has been very challenging, keeping insects on hand – between the high temperatures causing shipping problems for live insects, there were other shortages across the nation as well. Costs for bugs were nearly doubled this year, and our need for them was up. It was a tough Season and now we really need your help refilling the tank. We’re on empty.
The care we provide is on a shoestring budget. Thank you for helping us keep our doors open and mealworm bins full. Your support has already helped a thousand wild babies this year.
