Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Welcome to Woodpeckers of PEI page. There are a total of nine woodpecker species that can be found on PEI. Some are very rare like the red-headed woodpecker, while others are common, such as the northern flicker. Some stay over winter like the downy and hairy woodpecker, while others like the yellow-bellied sapsucker, are only found during summer. Woodpeckers play and important role in maintaining healthy forested habitats and fill an important ecological niche as cavity creators in trees.

When your finished learning about woodpeckers, make sure to visit:
The Importance of Wildlife Trees
Dead trees (they're still full of life!)

Facts about Woodpeckers

Classification:

• Order Piciformes
• Family Picidae (near-passerine birds)
• 200 species, 30 genera
• found worldwide, except for Australia and polar regions
• most found in forest/woodland habitats
• earliest fossil evidence of woodpecker-like birds was about 25 - 50 million years ago

Characteristics:

Another winter with very poor ice conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence means that seals are forced to come to shore to rest. On shore, they are obviously at much greater risk from predators and spectators. Last thing they need is nosy people getting in their faces.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is warning Maritimers to avoid any seals they see on shore.

Harp seals give birth at this time of year, usually on sea ice. But federal scientists expect that because of this year's poor ice conditions, there will be juvenile seals on the shores of Prince Edward Island and the Gulf coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

It's normal for seal pups to be abandoned by their mothers before they can fend for themselves but, said DFO spokesperson Chastity MacKinnon, it's important for people and pets to stay away from those pups.

Stay away from seals on shore: DFO
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/03/12/ns-s...

Poor ice conditions will take a heavy toll on seal pups in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence again this year, with thousands likely to die.
Poor ice conditions are causing problems for seals for the second year in a row.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans biologist Mike Hammill took a helicopter tour of the Gulf this week. Hammill said the ice pans upon which the seals give birth are small, making it difficult for them to nurse their young.

He expects as many as half the pups born in Atlantic Canada could be lost.

Seal pups suffer poor ice conditions again

We have had so much snow this winter, a pair of Red Foxes have decided to create a home on the roof of a house in Charlottetown. It caused quite a stir in the neighborhood.

Two foxes have taken up residence in Charlottetown — on the roof of a home.

The house in Lewis Point Park is now one of the most photographed spots in Charlottetown, as the foxes nap on the snow-covered roof.

Tony Kelly said he snapped a series of pictures after his friend told him about the animals.

"I didn't really know what he was talking about, so I come over, and he was at the door, and he told me to look over here on the roof," Kelly said. "I looked over, and here there was a couple of foxes curled up in the snowbank in the V of the roof."

Foxes make home on Charlottetown roof
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/01/17/pei-...

There is a study being commissioned to determine the feasibility of returning Otter's to PEI waterways. Otters were on PEI back in the pioneer days, but there were trapped to the point of extirpation around the Island.

Otters could be reintroduced to Prince Edward Island if a Holland College study shows the move would make sense.

The P.E.I. Trappers Association and the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation have commissioned a study to look at the idea's feasibility.

A researcher from Holland College is looking at similar cases throughout North America, while weighing pros and cons such as cost and the opinions of Islanders.

Otters' return to P.E.I. studied
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/01/09/pei-...

Red-breasted NuthatchThe folks who are part of the E-mail list, PEI-Birders, have commenced it's Winter Bird List Competition. If you are a bird watcher on the Island, you are encouraged to join in and report what bird species you spot during the winter, in a friendly competition with NB and NS.

Here is the announcement from Dave Seeler, operator of the list.

From the first of December to the end of February it is time to keep track
of all species observed here on PEI - hopefully we can outdo our sister
provinces and others who are now preparing to begin this yearly endeavour.

So, once December 1st is here, I would ask that you immediately send all
reports of any and ALL species observed to the list. To aid in data
collection please place the term

" WBL: "

(Winter bird list) in the subject line so that I not miss any of your
reports.

I will keep track of the species observed and reported and provide an
update at the end of each month.

Also - if you wish to see how we fared in previous years, you may do so at
the following Web Site which is maintained on our behalf courtesy of Blake
Maybank:

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/other/peiwinter.htm

Good Birding and have fun this WINTER!!!!!

Crows are smart and no matter what you do, I think the crows are going to do what they want to do. There was a CBC Nature of Things episode about a family of crows, quite interesting ! There is some evidence that we are to blame for this problem, as crows prefer lite areas at night so they can see their main predator, owls. Also, city landscape and urban concreate jungle can actually be warmer than out in rural areas. No one really knows why they pick a particular area and I can sympathize with home-owners that have to deal with crow poop everywhere.

The city of Charlottetown, P.E.I. is taking further steps to solve the crow problem in some neighborhoods.

The city tried a few experiments last year to try and push the crows away from residential areas. But now it's back to the drawing board.

"The crows, they own the neighborhood," said Christine Hoffman, who moved to the Brighton area of Charlottetown nine years ago. "There's tonnes of them. They swarm the trees. And they're really loud in the wee hours of the morning and at dusk. And they make a huge mess."

A year ago, the city tried to tackle the crow problem around Victoria Park by purchasing two high-tech sound machines called whalers that residents could sign out to try to scare the crows away.

Crow problem stymies Charlottetown
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/11/10/pe-crows-...

A bird enthusiast in central P.E.I. made just the fifth-ever recorded sighting of a summer tanager on the Island this week.

Waldron Heffel of South Freetown, east of Summerside, called conservation experts at Holland College when he spotted the bird.

"It's quite rare, probably won't see that again," said Heffel. "Might be around again though, you never know."

Holland College conservation instructor Dwaine Oakley was able to take pictures of the bird. He took two of his students along with him. They believe it was a juvenile bird that started north on its fall migration instead of south.

Bird makes rare visit to P.E.I.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/10/26/pei-summe...

I thought this was an old-wise tale, but truth is in the photos... Two bald eagles were found on a lawn in Longcreek, PEI, with their talons locked between them, in a death grip. It looks like it has a happy ending, as a wildlife officer, with some assistance, was able to pry the talons of the eagles apart, and release them, without any apparent injuries to the birds. Great photo of the two eagles !

"They were in distress because they were flopping trying to get apart," said Leith Stretch, one of the people who discovered the birds.

Gerald MacDougall, manager of fish and wildlife for the province, took the call and went to see what he could do.

"I had never seen anything like it, where the two actually had grabbed each other in this death grip and actually allowed people to walk right up to them," MacDougall said.

He believes the eagles got into a fight over a scrap of food.

Bald eagles released from death grip
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/09/24/pei-eagle...

PEI National Park officials are claiming that 15 Piping Plover chicks have successfully survived this summer. I am a little suprised that the title of the CBC article, "Future looks good...", as back in the spring, there was another article, where they said piping plovers are really in trouble. make up your mind... Anyway, good summer weather and the new dune island created at Tracadie Bay are attributed to the piping plover breeding success this year.

From CBC:

Prince Edward Island National Park officials are pleased with the number of endangered piping plovers chicks hatched this year.

A new island and a good breeding season will provide a safe home for the birds in the next few years.

Fifteen chicks were able to survive in the park. That's about two babies per pair, which is double the normal number.

"The long stretch of warm weather that we've had here in P.E.I. has been really great for the piping plovers," said Jennifer Stewart, who works at the park. "And we do know that during periods of inclement weather the piping plovers chicks are stressed and they do not have as much time to forage, to gain weight as they normally would."

Future of piping plover looks good
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/09/03/pei-plove...

A recent article in the West Prince Graphic about beavers has given my an opportunity to revisit some recent news about our favorite rodent.

First, the West Prince Graphic article is about large beavers in the Round Pond area, where local residents noted that some beavers caught in the provincial beaver cull were up to 70 pounds in weight.

Beavers packing on pounds in West Prince
Wed, 08/11/2010

They are the largest rodents in Canada and they appear to be even larger in watersheds in West Prince, according to Allan McInnis.

“An ordinary growing beaver is about 40 to 45 pounds. There were a couple caught (recently) in the Round Pond (in central Kildare) that were 60 to 70 pounds,” said Mr McInnis, co-ordinator of the Tignish Watershed Management Group, which boasts as many 15 volunteers during peak periods.

Mr McInnis doesn’t know why the beavers are so large, but he spectulates it’s because they were left alone and didn’t face much trapping pressure.

http://peicanada.com/west_prince_graphic/publication/beavers_packing_pou...

I did some checking and unfortunately, our beavers are not super-sized. Most literature indicates that up 1 m in length and 60-70 lb beaver is not unheard of. During my reading however, I did come across an interesting thing.

Back in the saber-toothed tiger and wholly mammoth days, there were beavers. Cool eh ! Anyway, from the fossil record, they figure beavers of the day were over 3 meters in length and over 350 kg's. Now that is a super-sized beaver !