I put suet out for the woodpeckers. I try to limit the amount to 3 or 4 ounces at a time because I don't want the suet (fat from above beef kidneys) to go rancid in the summer heat. The woodpeckers demolish the 3 or 4 ounces in anywhere from 2 to 24 hours. They've been eating more suet now than they did in the middle of winter. If the suet feeder is empty, the woodpeckers cling to the deck railing and twitter loudly. Is it anthromorphisizing if I say they're scolding me and asking, "Where is dinner?" When I bring the suet out, the parent hairy woodpecker will cling next to the suet, peck out a piece, and hand it over, beak to beak,to the baby hairy woodpeckers who is clinging just a few inches away. The parent hairy woodpeckers doesn't even have to move it's feed to take a bite, feed the baby, take another bite, feed the baby, etc. I would think the parent would just nudge the baby a few inches closer so they can feed themselves. It's fun to watch the woodpecker family at dinner and it adds great data for my breeding bird atlas, but they've been doing this for almost a week now. Anthromorphisizing or not, I do wonder when these hairy woodpeckers are going to put on their big boy pants and peck their own suet out of the suet holder. I think I tend to give the birds human emotions because it makes a better story. Who doesn't love Winnie the Pooh? The Hobbit? Alice in Wonderland? The Jungle Book? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? They're all great stories about animals with human emotions.
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