![\"williamson's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/williamsons-sapsucker-1977-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI’ve seldom seen parental duties so enthusiastically and evenly shared as in this mated pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers in Clark County, Idaho last July.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n They had a brood of hungry youngsters in their nest cavity in an old, dead\u00a0aspen\u00a0who needed constant attention – meals delivered (mostly ants), excreta and wood chips removed from the cavity\u00a0and guarding the nest hole from nosey avian\u00a0neighbors who were attracted by all the\u00a0commotion. In addition both parents had to keep themselves fed and groomed so the activity around the cavity was usually intense and almost constant.<\/p>\n Here the female on the left (this is the only woodpecker species to exhibit such spectacular sexual plumage differences – sexual dimorphism) is delivering a beak-full of ants to the chicks inside the nest but she must wait for the male to leave before she enters the cavity. He had arrived previously with his own load of ants.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Twenty three minutes later their roles are reversed as the male with ants waits for her to leave before entering the nest (his head is cocked to the side to avoid losing it during her explosive exit).\u00a0While he was searching for food I could hear her pounding away inside as she further excavated the nest. She has excreta soaked\u00a0wood chips in her bill that she will carry away when she\u00a0leaves.<\/p>\n I’ve observed many nesting birds over the years but I don’t recall any whose nesting activities were more\u00a0frenetic, time-consuming and energy intensive. It always made me wonder just how many hungry mouths\u00a0were inside the nest waiting\u00a0to be fed but of course I never did see\u00a0the youngsters\u00a0(average clutch size is 4-6 eggs) and could only guess.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Again I feel compelled to mention the potential risks to birds caused by photographing nesting activities.\u00a0If\u00a0birds feel threatened they\u00a0may abandon the nest. This nest cavity was\u00a0actually within\u00a0an almost constantly used campsite so the birds were acclimated to human activity, my presence didn’t noticeably alter their behavior and my supertelephoto lens allowed me to photograph from a respectable distance.<\/p>\n We’re approaching the time of year when nesting birds are most vulnerable to human activities (including but certainly not restricted to nature photography) and I’m hoping to publish a post in the near future on that critical subject.<\/p>\n Please watch for it.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve seldom seen parental duties so enthusiastically and evenly shared as in this mated pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers.<\/p>\n![\"williamson's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/williamsons-sapsucker-2037-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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