Evening star., 1949-12-15

one OF the most strtkingly colored birds Of
this area, pays me an occasional visit; the
first OF this season on November ~.
"Is there any food that can be placed on
tree or shrub that will encourage him to
pay us more frequent visits?
VERY truly yours, L. r."
Suet does it.
Beef suet is best. and may be secured
easily, at very little expense.
In the old days, butchers gave it away.
This Is the best winter food for wood
peckers including the marvellous downy.
The larger ed-bellied species, as 1t Is
called, also likes this fat. It gives him Just
what he needs In the cold.
Suet is malleable material, easily offered
all birds that will take it.
Suet Is best placed on q tree trunk, in
some sort Of container.
Be sure to put the food high enough so that
dogs cannot reach 1t by jumping, as they
are very fond Of 1t.
If put on the ground. wandering dogs will
walk of with suet, container and ALL
The most popular container is a sort Of
basket, often Of wire, best Of wicker
It is said that birds in the cold sometimes
boys used to stick their tongues to q cold
pump handle.
It may be supposed that this danger Is
not often ruin by birds. II one fears it, how
ever, 1t Is best to cover the wires with rag
or twine wrappings.
Old soap dishes may be used, or small
baskets. The trouble with the latter is that
the strands are likely to be too close together.
Cats offer no danger to Suet. They may
smell 1t, but are not likely to eat it. Pure
fat offers no lure to the wandering feline.
Kitty wants meat.in the cold, not fat.
The woodpeckers and others do not sample
the fat continuously, since q little Of 1t goes
long way. but they will appear almost
every day to get taste or two, and seem to
enjoy 1t immensely.
The red belly Of the -bellied woodpecker
Is there but at times is not easily seen as
the bird perches at a distance.
Some observers wonder why the hairy
woodpecker Is SO named. One must have q
specimen in hand, to feel the texture Of the
feathers on the stomach, to realize why it
Is so called.
Our red-bellied woodpecker is q sizeable
bird, about inches long, with q red head
and upper parts really black with narrow
white bars.
The underparts are red and gray. with
the middle Of the abdomen red, with some Of
1t at times tinging the breast, but not too
often. SO
This is the description Of the male. The
female is much the same, but the red Of the
head Is restricted to the back Of the head.
The red of the abdomen is much paler. and
more restricted. ~
It is too bad that in some sections OF the
country this woodpecker Is called sapsucker.
It is nothing OF the sort. The name probably
came from the fact that they are commonly
seen on trees and do bore holes. which cause
no particular harm. AS matter Of fact,
the red-bellied woodpecker nest is not always
made by the birds, which simply take over
an old site made by another bird.
Claims are sometimes made that this
woodpecker eats fruit Examination shows
that most Of it Is wild fruit, not the cultivated
sort.
Most Of the insect foods of this bird are of
the harmful type, and this puts him in the
class Of friend Of mankind.
Woodpeckers not only have strong necks
and marvellous bills, but also possess cylin-
drical tongues sometimes twice as long as
the head. With their necks, bills and tongues
they are able to catch the grubs beneath
the bark. Their winter food consists largely
. of the grubs Of wood borers, insect eggs and
hibernating insects, whose exit from the
scene benefits the trees, while the small holes
made seldom do any real damage. Tree
owners should never fear to have the wood
peckerS around. Real sapsuckerB may do
some damage. but xoodpsckGs ssldom.