California Woodpecker Steals Eggs of Wood Pewee
California Woodpecker Steals Eggs of Wood Pewee
It is common knowledge that the jay is not the only egg eater among our birds. On occasion birds of many other species rob nests. The worst egg eater yet discovered in my aviary is a Santa Cruz Song Sparrow. The following note adds the California Woodpecker to the list of guilty birds.
While riding horse-back about a mile west of the village in Yosemite Valley, on July 17, 1920, my attention was attracted to a pair of Western Wood Pewees who were snapping their bills and making a great fuss. On looking above my head, I discovered a California Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi) calmly perched on the pewee’s nest and eating one of the eggs. I could see the white and the yolk of the egg on the woodpecker's bill, as he raised his head. After watching for some time, I attempted to frighten the robber away, but experienced considerable difficulty in doing so. When he finally left the nest the pewees continued to dart at him, to drive him farther away. Soon one of the pewees, apparently the female, returned to the nest, picked up an eggshell and flew off with it. I was unable to see what she did with it. In half a minute she returned and began incubating the remaining eggs.
Harold C. Bryant
Berkeley, California, November 10, 1920
