Three-toed Woodpecker reunion

Today, I bumped into an old friend: the one toe, three toe who is a female Three-toed Woodpecker with a damaged right foot. She bred successfully in 2018 but in 2019 was chased away by another female who took the male she was already holding territory with. So, it was exciting to see that she is still going strong in Maridalen and hopefully I will bump into her in April and May when she should attempt to breed again.

Seeing her reminded me that I had not yet had the post I had promised about last years Three-toed Woodpeckers. Here at least is the video I had taken when the two females were fighting on 7 May 2019 and a couple of extra pictures that I never published last year. The video is 5 minutes long but shows fascinating behaviour between two females clearly fighting for a male and the chance to breed.

female Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) today

the damaged middle toe that is very thin and sticks straight out can be seen

the same female photographed 24 April 2019. Note the same middle toe on the right foot plus the left hand toe that is broken and sticks up. One could often see the right foot slipping

male from last year