Back in March of last year I declared 2016 the 'year of the woodpecker' for my 'birdnerd' self. Yes, it is now 2017 and here I am finally finishing a blog post that I truly have been writing and thinking about for an entire year. There were too many tumultuous events that happened in 2016 to discuss here, but birds continue to be my north star. I like the idea of creating my own spirituality, culture and zodiac around birds. Much like the Chinese use their zodiac to date the years, I find myself marking my years by certain birds. Some years evolve organically with chance and recurrent experiences with certain species (i.e. 2009 'year of the northern shrike') while other years are driven by my educational objectives, researching, observing, and searching out a species (i.e. 2002 'year of the great horned owl'). The year 2016 was all about the sonic seduction of woodpeckers, the Hairy Woodpecker to be exact, and this avian relationship began in my home state of Montana.
Hairy Woodpecker, Helena National Forest, Mt. Helena, MT (photo: Kirsten Anderson)
The Hairy Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with a fairly-square head, a long straight, chisel-like bill, and stiff, long tail feathers that they use to lean against tree trunks. Their bill is nearly the same length as their head. But beware, many birders will caution you about the Hairy Woodpecker's doppelganger, the Downy Woodpecker. The distinguishing characteristic between these two birds is the bill size - Hairy Woodpeckers have a much larger bill than Downy Woodpeckers. Hairy Woodpeckers also have a longer and more distinct black mark on the shoulder, and in most populations, completely white outer tail feathers. I know what your thinking, yes these birds look insanely alike, but I promise you they are different! A helpful trick I have learned from my birding elders is rather morbid, yet foolproof. Let's get a little weird and imagine yourself shoving the bill of the Hairy Woodpecker back through its head, it would most likely pierce through the other side. But try this same gruesome tactic with the Downy and it wouldn't make it, it would get lodged into their tiny (.07 ounce!) brain.
Hairy Woodpecker in Ontario, Canada (photo: Wikipedia)
Hairy vs. Downy
The distinguishing characteristics between these two birds are:
- bill size - Hairy Woodpeckers have a much larger bill than Downy Woodpeckers
- overall size - Hairy Woodpeckers are about 50% taller than the Downy (~ 6 inches tall on average)
- shoulder markings - Hairy Woodpeckers have a longer and more distinct black mark on the shoulder
- tail feathers - in most populations Hairy Woodpeckers have completely white outer tail feathers
A male Downy Woodpecker in Long Island, NY (photo: Wikipedia)
More than 75% of the Hairy Woodpecker's diet is made up of insects, particularly the larvae of wood-boring beetles and bark beetles. In winter, due to scarce alternative prey availability, the percentage of bark beetles in the Hairy Woodpecker's diet can jump up to 99%! Beetlemania!
Mountain Pine Beetle (illustration: Kirsten Anderson)
Bark beetles, specifically the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB), have been known to cause extensive infestation of thousands of live trees, their populations reaching into the billions. When this happens, Hairy Woodpeckers are the key species and the first to find newly infested trees to feast on the beetle larvae. Numerous scientific studies have found correlations between woodpeckering (yes, this is a real and utterly amazing word!) intensity and bark beetle mortality. On average a bark beetle mortality rate of 72% can be achieved in bark areas that have been worked by woodpeckers, and most commonly those unsung heroes are the Hairy Woodpeckers.
So let's rewind a moment to the year 2007 and to the Queen City of the Rockies, Helena, Montana, my beloved hometown. This was the year there was a massive outbreak of MPB in the Helena National Forest and by 2009 and 2010 the mortality rate of Ponderosa and Lodgepole Pines ranged from 50-90%!
Here is a photo of the Helena National Forest that gives you a sense of what millions of MPB infested trees looks like - pretty shocking isn't it? From 2000 to 2012 bark beetles killed enough trees throughout the United States to cover the entire state of Colorado. In Montana alone we lost a million acres of trees to MPB.
Helena National Forest (photo: Scott Sterling)
In an article on forest ecology featured in the 2014 Society of American Foresters, a positive relationship was observed between MPBs and Hairy Woodpeckers, noticing a statistically significant increase in Hairy Woodpeckers within 6 years after an initial MPB outbreak. Ok so maybe this isn't as exciting to you as it is to me and all other bird nerds, but allow me to digress for a moment.
Woodpeckers are actually assuming their role as climate messengers right alongside the Mountain Pine Beetle. This little beetle, no bigger than a mouse turd, may actually prove to know more about climate change than even our own climate scientists! You see, MPBs have evolved to target weaker coniferous trees in order to increase their chances of survival and in turn their chances of breeding. The MPB knows that the healthier and stronger a tree is the greater it's defense mechanisms are in the tree's counter-attack to the beetle infestation. The primary defense being the tree's production of resin in order to effectively drown and kill the beetles.
Overall, the majority of scientists and foresters are in agreement that the invasive Mountain Pine Beetle is severely damaging coniferous forests which can lead to an increase in intensity and longevity of our summer wildfire seasons. However, there is one scientist who is challenging the negative reputation the MPB has acquired. Diana Six is a University of Montana Professor who believes that the bugs might hold clues to saving our forests in the face of climate change. Together with a University of California-Berkeley law professor, Eric Biber, Diana and Eric scrutinized every study on beetle control and discovered that the established forest management technique of pre-thinning forests actually leaves those forests even more susceptible to MPB.
Diana Six, Entomologist, University of Montana (photo: Huffington Post)
Diana's research points to compelling evidence that 'beetle-assisted natural selection' is actually making our forests more strong and resilient in the face of climate change. In effect, MPB's are creating "supertrees" - trees that have genetically adapted to survive and thrive in an ever-warming climate. Diana hopes that her research could help inform a new kind of forest management guided by a deeper understanding of tree genes - an understanding that beetles have mastered for millenia.
My profound curiosity of the avian species, in this case the Hairy Woodpecker, has enriched my life is countless ways, but often the most valuable is the never-ending education that birds continue to grant me. I am forever indebted to the mind-expanding view of the world that they show me. I recall a dear friend and Ornithologist telling me when I was first studying birds how they would change my life forever and he couldn't have been more right. I look forward to discovering which bird might represent the year 2017 for me and the inevitable world of knowledge that comes with studying these incredible creatures. Here's to you 2017, may you be abundant with birds and patient with my attempts to understand them.
