Birders can easily learn to recognize the patterns and rhythms of woodpecker drumming to help bird identification, but understanding why woodpeckers drum can help any birder expand their appreciation of these useful bird sounds and the birds that make them.
Unlike other songbirds, woodpeckers do not have a distinctive song as part of their avian vocabulary. Instead, drumming is the way the birds communicate, and woodpeckers will drum for two main reasons:
* Attracting a mate
* Advertising a territory
When a woodpecker drums on a resonant object, the resulting sound can be heard for great distances by other birds. Other woodpeckers will recognize the sound by its pattern and tempo, and birds of the same species can be attracted to potential mates through drumming. At the same time, drumming alerts competitors that the nearby territory is claimed and can be defended by a strong, vibrant bird that can produce good drumming.
Just like bird songs, drumming is most common in spring when birds are trying to attract mates and establish territories. Woodpeckers frequently drum in the morning, though some drumming may be heard at any time of day. Both male and female birds have been known to drum. Woodpecker has a lifespan on average, woodpeckers live from 4-11 years.
