Woodpeckers Alight in the Library

As winter turns into spring, woodpeckers become very active and noisy, so in early April you may be woken up by the sound of them drumming outside of your window. Luckily, our displayed Audubon print is much less distracting, but just as striking, as the real thing. Our featured print is plate 66, the ivory-billed woodpecker. This print shows one male (with the red marking) and two females, caught in the act of stalking a grub and striping bark from a tree.

Woodpeckers are one of the earliest markers of spring, as they are busy drumming and drilling to communicate, attract mates, mark territory, and build nests. The Commonwealth has created an informational webpage on the woodpecker, and from there we learned that they begin nesting in April in the cavities that they have drummed into trees.

Visit us April 11 through May 9 to see the woodpecker (quietly) on display in our reading room.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian