Exploring Pigeon Valley: Olive Woodpecker
With its deep red crown and tail, and a golden-olive back that is resplendent when caught in the sun, this is a most attractive bird
This is the 65th in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood.
ALSO READ: Exploring Pigeon Valley: The European Nightjar
There is plenty of old growth on the trees of Pigeon Valley, an ideal setting for woodpeckers. The most common is Golden-tailed Woodpecker, then Cardinal Woodpeckers. The Olive Woodpecker we have at present has beenaround for perhaps 30 months, a male apparently on its own. This individual is not so much shy as hard to detect in the canopy of trees; only occasionally does it give its shrill call.
Pigeon Valley has occasional bird parties, gatherings of typical species led by the Square-tailed Drongos, which acts as sentinel, and it is often here that you will find this bird. With its deep red crown and tail, and a golden-olive back that is resplendent when caught in the sun, this is a most attractive bird. It constantly forages, probing into cracks and holes for the pupae and larvae ofwood-boring beetles and insects. The lifestyle of the woodpeckers requires them to hang at odd angles to access the holes they need.
I am hoping that before long the lockdown will ease to the point where people can freely re-enter the reserve to look for such beautiful birds.
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