Great Spotted Woodpecker
A narrow escape from a Sparrow Hawk
The fat cake secreted in the many holes drilled in branches I fixed
to the
fence have been welcomed on a very regular basis by the local family of
woodpeckers and of course by our many tits, finches and sparrows.
This morning 19th November 2011 I watched as a male Great
Spotted Woodpecker was gorging himself, suddenly a Sparrow hawk arrived,
all the Goldfinch fled and the hawk perched on the seed feeder
supports with the Woodpecker less than three yards away, but just
out of sight of the hawk, the woodpecker kept motionless.
I watched and watched as the sparrow hawk sat surveying the scene and
the woodpecker remained frozen to the branch.
This seemed to go on for a long time, and no movement from the
woodpecker, I expected the woodpecker to end up as the hawks
breakfast , but it did not stir.
Eventually the hawk spread its wings and departed, only then did the
woodpecker move, craning his neck to ensure the hawk had gone, then took
up another position and continued his breakfasting.
Behaviour
What does interest me was this an instinctive reaction to the
predator, or was it learnt behaviour? Was there a reasoning going on in
the woodpeckers head?
Can anyone offer an explanation as to his behaviour as it seems
reasonable to assume that faced with the same situation I may have tried
to flee the scene.
The woodpecker photo pictured here was taken last year.