In addition to chickadees, I feel a strong connection to woodpeckers, as multiple species landed on our bird feeders and suet at home. Since I was a child, I’ve been almost terrified of the pileated woodpecker, but I’ve grown to respect the bird. What worried me was its wildly large size, incomparable to any other bird, even a blue jay, as they range from 15.8 to 19.3 inches long. As I sat on a rock during one of my trips to my spot, I got to experience what was the most exciting thing: a pileated woodpecker “attacking” a smaller bird. Later, I learned that the smaller bird was a downy woodpecker, which has a shorter bill than any other woodpecker with black and white checkered feathers. I saw a male, as it had a small red patch on the back of its head. Downy woodpeckers range from 5.5 to 6.7 inches long and eat mostly berries, seeds, and insects and nest in dead deciduous trees; they move quickly between tree trunks and branches and move horizontally and downwards more freely than other woodpeckers. I witnessed this occur as the small downy woodpecker frantically moved side to side and up and down, defending itself from the pileated woodpecker. Downy woodpeckers also fan their tails, jerk their beaks and raise their head feathers when disputing with another bird. Unfortunately, I was too far away to see the little hairs on the woodpecker rise (Cornell University, 2019). I questioned why the pileated woodpecker approached the downy woodpecker, as pileated woodpeckers tend to be more tolerant of other birds; however, they can peck loudly, chase off, or vocalize to defend their territory (Kaufman, 2019). From the position I was at, I wasn’t able to see whether the pileated woodpecker had a nest in that tree, but it’s possible and could be the reason why it attacked the downy woodpecker. I am intrigued that the woodpecker’s pitch often matches the bird’s size, as pileated woodpeckers have deeper, slower, but more powerful drums, and downy woodpeckers have very fast, high pitched drumming that often blends into a single sound. I question if the size of the beak or its body relates to their drumming pitch because their calls are both high. The pileated woodpecker has a high-pitched clear series of piping calls that last many seconds and shorter calls sounding like “wuk-wuk,” and downy woodpeckers call at high-pitched notes that descend in pitch towards the end and occasionally make a high-pitched “pik” sound. It would seem that both birds would have more nasal whistles or trills if they were stressed, countering an attack from a larger bird or another competitor (Cornell University, 2019).

The interaction between the two birds fascinated me, and I love to observe bird communication. I always write and think about the type and sound of the birds when I’m in nature, especially along the waterfront. At my spot, I was always curious if the birds I heard and saw chose to live there because of the water. I found out that chickadees, downy woodpeckers, or pileated woodpeckers most likely selected their habitat due to the vast number of maple, ash, and oak trees as well as many dead trees. These birds feed on nuts, berries, and insects, which they all find on bushes or trees, so water does not supply any of their food. It’s a possibility the birds nested nearby because the run is a shallow water source for drinking and bathing (Mayntz, 2020). I am also interested in how bird sounds changed as the seasons changed. I noted that bird calls were slightly muted as the leaves fell off the trees during late October, as I heard more human sounds, such as a lawnmower, planes, cars, and children. I also wrote about whether birds are affected by hearing more human sounds without the leaves as a buffer. Do they remain in their nests more often? Do they have to call louder than their counterparts? While humans don’t often come directly into that part of the forest, I’m curious how these birds react to human sounds. They may continue their everyday life, and human sounds overtook the birds this time of year as I sat in the forest.

I admire the isolation of my spot in the forest in Gambier, but there will be fewer of these spots as humans come in contact with nature more frequently due to urbanization and the increase in logging and agriculture. I worry I will no longer hear the loud call of a blue jay or feel a black-capped chickadee land on my arm as I stand as still as a bird feeder. I fear I won't be able to observe a pileated woodpecker peck at the suet my dad puts out every week. The effects of climate change vary for each species, depending on their reaction to rising temperatures and deforestation. I see and hear most frequently black-capped chickadees, which may somewhat thrive off forest clearing for agriculture, as they like to live along the forest edge. They also feed off bird feeders, so there's a possibility that we may play a part in keeping the food source available for chickadees. However, as land managers continue to cut down dead trees from forests, they may suffer from habitat loss as they can nest in tree cavities (Cornell University, 2019). If the earth were to warm three degrees as the worst-case scenario, the black-capped chickadee is predicted to leave Ohio almost entirely and move more north into Canada, losing eighteen percent of its range. (Kaufman, 2020). On the other hand, the downy woodpeckers live well in young forests, so clearing old forests may not be a problem (Cornell University, 2019). A three-degree temperature increase will cause a ten percent decrease in the downy woodpecker's range. Nevertheless, its populations in Ohio will remain the same, only losing some individuals in the south-central United States. This region will increase wildfires due to dry weather and elevated temperatures that will endanger the woodpecker (Kaufman, 2019). Lastly, pileated woodpeckers have been growing in population since 1966 but rely on dead trees for insects and habitat. Their population will decline significantly from deforestation in the east (Cornell University, 2019). Thankfully, their populations will remain steady in Ohio and only decrease in the central United States and Canada and Florida, and California, losing eighteen percent of their range (Kaufman, 2019). Plenty more bird species will move out of Ohio with the chickadee, and I worry about how that will affect different species like their predators and prey. In addition, more species will move northward due to increasing temperatures in the south, which could affect the species that will remain in Ohio.

Bird communication and bird calls are so meaningful to me and others; I feel relaxed, safe, and feel that the earth is alive. As I sat at my spot every time, I noted the birds I could hear and emphasized sound as a whole in my writing. I desire for people to value birds and bird sounds as much as I do. As I’ve learned from Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass, humans tend to speak scientifically by referring to nature as “it.” Once people refer to trees or birds as “it,” there becomes a barrier between people and nature; there’s a lack of empathy and animacy with the species. I wish people would learn to appropriately call the birds by name and develop a sense of compassion for these animals. Birds are necessary for maintaining biodiversity and are part of complex systems that are important for many other species’ survival. The birds shouldn’t have to add a direct material value to human life in order for them to be valuable, as people find it challenging to place importance on conservation and restoration in a capitalist society based on making a profit. I desire a world in which people see that every tree, flower, weed, animal, or insect has importance and that their existence affects humans one way or another and a world where chickadees don’t have to migrate north because of the atmosphere’s rising temperatures. In order for things to change, people need to develop empathy and understanding of these species and their vast importance in the natural world.