What the Hell is That Noise?

A woodpecker hanging out in our yard

Last Saturday, M. and I were attempting to "sleep in," which the parents among you know means simply trying to sleep past 8:00 in the morning. Later that day, we'd be rushing from basketball game to grocery store and other places to get all the things done that we'd ignored during the week. M. had mentioned a few times that she heard noises "in the ceiling." My first assumption was mice, but she said it seemed to loud for mice. Our next thought was that a squirrel or maybe even a raccoon had made its way into it this space. (This can happen. If you want to see the destruction these furry beasts can do to your home, just do a bit of Google searching. It's truly horrifying.)

But, I still hadn't heard the noise myself, and, while I believed my wife, of course, I wanted to hear it for myself. But, yesterday, I did hear it--a consistent, piercing knocking, which would not stop regardless of the noise we made in return. Whatever was making it wasn't afraid of us in the least. M. took off to run some errands, and I, full of machismo and confidence that I could solve this problem, took action. So, with the temperature hovering around zero, I ventured up a ladder to the overhang of the house. I swore quietly (and loudly) as I attempted to figure out how an animal had entered the roof of our home. After an hour of exploration, I couldn't see any way something could have entered, and it was silent. So, I left the ladder and went back inside to tend to other things. After a few minutes of silence, I walked into our room to hear the ceiling explode in sound--the sudden cacophony of what sounded like dozens of animals in the ceiling...inside the freaking ceiling. So, I grabbed a broom and banged on the ceiling. I yelled at the top of my lungs. Basically, I freaked out. In that moment, I hated all animals. Nonetheless, my freakout didn't silence the creatures at all, so I went back outside.

I decided to go back up the ladder, and, as I reached the top, the animals exploded off of the roof. Woodpeckers. They weren't inside the ceiling; they were on the roof. As they fluttered to the nearby trees, I realized what was happening. They were "pecking" at the water that had now turned to ice on our flat roof. (Our house was built in 1964 by country singer C.W. McCall--more about that later--and its design is unique. One of these unique features is a two level flat roof.) The birds were using this ice as a way to make the loudest noise possible. Upon realizing this, I ran inside to call M. to tell her the news: we wouldn't have to move and abandon the house to the squirrels!

***

One of the most prevalent birds here at our place in the Red Headed Woodpecker. Their knocking echoes over the hills and gullies that surround our homes. Since last week's events, I've learned a lot about them.  In addition to pecking at wood looking for bugs to eat, woodpeckers also "drum" to both attract mates and, apparently, simply for the sake of making noise. This became apparent to us as we panicked to the point of almost calling an exterminator on a weekend (big mistake). There are a lot of cool things about woodpeckers. I'm reading a great book called The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature, and, in this book, the author, Jonathan Rosen tells of his journey to becoming a birder. In the opening section, he points out that birds have various ways of seeing. The woodpecker, for example, sees what's behind it better than what's in front of it. (No wonder I couldn't sneak up on them earlier.) Of course, this evolved trait makes sense, right? If you are going to spend all day focused on banging on things, it's best to see what might be sneaking up on you.

Thinking about ways of seeing brings a lot to mind. More about that next time perhaps...

To learn more about this beautiful, yet sometimes annoying bird, click here.