Woodpecker Drumbeats and Dances
Woodpeckers have a varied and highly efficient system of communication comprising visual and 
acoustic signals. They “speak” tone another by ruffling their crown feathers, spreading wings, swaying the head, hop-ping and dancing, by giving threat and con-tact calls, and by tapping and drumming with the bill on tree trunks and branches. Like many other animals woodpeckers use this “language” to express their mood. It’s important for other woodpeckers to recognize this because woodpeckers are frequently aggressive. (This is connected with the ownership of trees with holes and of feeding territories, both of which are defended, often in early courtship against the prospective mate.) The contact necessary for reproduction is often made possible only by a sequence of threat signals that diminish gradually in intensity.
In many species of woodpeckers there Isa kind of “threat courtship.” An interesting example is the ritualized threat tournament of rival Black woodpecker males. The birds threaten one another at first with keegakcalls, and then fly to the base of a tree and attempt to drive one another upwards. From time to time they thrust their hills into their, as if on a command, and wave them about. In these movements the red crowns prominently displayed. The birds then sink into a waiting posture, only to repeat the maneuver after a few minutes. Such tournament may last for over an hour, until one of the birds gives up. If a male and female meet they threaten one another in similar fashion, but the male’s aggression then gradually wanes. This is presumably because the smaller area of red on the female’s head and her lower-intensity sway-in movements inhibit the male’s aggression. Characteristic of this threat ceremony is a very quiet rarer call.
Head-swaying with presentation of the head pattern is bund in many species, for example the genera Collates and Picus, many of the sapsuckers and the Pleated Woodpecker. The behavior is especially pro-enounced in the Common flicker which dances about with wings spread and tail fanned and shows off part of the head which. In the male, bears a moustache-like stripe. If such a stripe is artificially painted on female she will be treated like a male, i.e. she will provoke intense aggression.
Multiunit calls, reaching long distances. Often combined with demonstrative flight sat tree-top height, serve as signals to attract partner and to advertise trees with holes. In many species drumming and tapping sequences fulfill this function. Some species combine vocal and instrumental (drum-Ming) signals. Each species has its own specific pattern of drumming. In the Black woodpecker long series (43 strikes in 2 seconds) function as long-range signals with a great power of attraction while quiet and shorter series are used at close range to advertise the entrance to a hole. When female has followed a male as far as the hole. Or conversely, a male has approached female showing a nest; the active partner marks the whole entrance with long tapping sequences. Eventually the other bird is attracted nearer and gives threat calls to drive the exhibitor away so that the nest is free for inspection. Woodpeckers sometimes advertise what prove to be unsuitable holes: in such cases the inspecting bird will leave the site, look for another tree, and attempt to lure its future mate to this new site, but success may come only after several days.
The basic scheme of the language of courtship, in a sense its grammar. is founding the majority of woodpecker species: drumming—guiding with calls and special flights—drumming, tap-drumming, tapping—hole inspection—agreement over choice of hole.
The Red-bellied woodpecker shows a high degree of ceremony in this sequence. Male and female perform a tapping duet in precise harmony. Where a hole has only been started, they then sit close together on the trunk; if’ there is a completed hole one bird taps inside, the other outside. Later, there also has to be some understanding between the birds for changeovers during incubation and brooding. Nest-relief has a ceremonial character: the incoming bird gives particular calls, mostly quiet and muttering, or soft and long-drawn. The bird in the hole con-firms its readiness for a changeover by tap-ping on the wall of the nest-chamber and then leaves to allow its mate to take over. In this nest-relief ceremony there is remnant of antagonistic behavior: when. For example. The bird in the hole is reluctant to leave, its mate uses threat calls and pos-tares to force the other’s departure.
If a female dies after the young have hatched the male is able to rear the brood alone, although initially in addition to the feeding of the young his normal response is intense drumming. Such behavior has been observed in the Great spotted woodpecker. After a short time, however this renewed courtship behavior wanes and the feeding adult becomes noticeably quiet in its territory.
Woodpeckers that have failed to acquire mate in the breeding season, or have lost one early on, mainly of course males. May drum and call persistently up until the end of the season. Sometimes this enables them to attract another bird, pair up and rear family in the late spring.