Wonderful Woodpeckers

I can’t think of a single instance when a woodpecker has been the favorite bird response. Why never woodpeckers? I have given some thought to this. True, they are all around us. Most are weakly migratory or simply nonmigratory. They can be secretive or suddenly right in front of us. While taking a neighborhood walk, we might see a Downy Woodpecker might fly past, land on a tree, and give its dry pik call. It’s always startling to see the white wing patches of a Red-headed Woodpecker flash by.

I once traveled to Hungary to see the Black Woodpecker. In Hungary, I also saw other birds, including the White-backed Woodpecker. My trip was led by Gerard Gorman, a woodpecker expert, who wrote Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide. He also wrote The Black Woodpecker: A Monograph on Dryocopus martius. A photo of the Black-cheeked Woodpecker graces the cover of Woodpeckers of the World, and I was thrilled to see this bird in Panama. Yet I have never named a woodpecker species as my favorite.

Paul Bannick, in his new book Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers, offers possible answers to this question and is likely to change future responses to the favorite bird question.

I’ll start with the physical book itself. It is a beautiful book. Because of its size, at first glance, it may appear to be a coffee table book. And although it will be beautiful on your coffee table, it takes less than five minutes to recognize the mischaracterization. I would characterize the book as a monograph of North American woodpeckers. The geographic scope of the 41 species, plus two believed to be extinct, of woodpeckers covered is an important opening. Bannick includes the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as well as The Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Guadeloupe. The monograph is accompanied by astonishing photos and well-written and detailed text, and readers learn about every aspect of the lives of North American woodpeckers.

The introduction is wonderful reading. We become aware of the importance of the woodpecker in mythology, legends, and the cultures of humans throughout history. Already the reader knows more about woodpeckers. The introduction is followed by five separate chapters: “A Bird of Distinction,” “Territory, Courtship, and Nest Creation,” “Life in the Nest,” “Gaining Independence,” and “Surviving Winter”—all of which cover any information gaps the reader may have.

Woodpeckers are important indicator species. They serve a key role for habitat preservation and are the architects of habitats and homes for themselves and other species—even non-bird species. They are major contributors to controlling insects and pests. The book concludes with a “Field Guide to North American Woodpeckers.” This is followed by acknowledgements, which I always read because they are important, and an extensive selected bibliography. Woodpecker is fully indexed.

Photographs are scattered throughout the book. Woodpeckers are shown perched, in-flight, at the nest cavity, and finding food. A photo I really like is a Lewis’s Woodpecker, dark and with its wings outstretched in flight, almost emulating a Turkey Vulture. Overall, the photos are beautiful and revealing. They make it impossible to ignore how colorful and uniquely patterned woodpecker feathers are.

I once drove from the Midwest to visit a relative in Idaho. I passed through excellent habitats for Lewis’s Woodpeckers and Williamson’s Sapsuckers. Despite searching hard, I never saw either bird. That’s the thing about woodpeckers. They are frequently mysterious. Birders expect to be able to find woodpeckers and are surprised when they are not where we think they should be. We settle for hearing their distant drumming. Woodpeckers are busy working; they are present but not making themselves visible. When they do show up, it’s often unexpected.

This review was a pleasure to write. I’ll close with a shout out to the publisher of Woodpecker. Braided River is a nonprofit imprint of Mountaineers Books based in Seattle. It publishes photo-driven conservation books that are the foundation for creative communication campaigns with tangible public policy goals. Braided River defends wild places by bringing evocative and inspirational images and stories to an ever-growing audience of environmental protectors. Let’s support publishers who offer us excellent works for reading, viewing, and learning with the goal of protecting and saving our environment. This year, the Braided River mission and objective are more important than ever. Not only is Woodpecker an important book to add to our libraries, but it is also an important way to spend our dollars.