this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2026
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hmmm
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Story: They replaced a wooden telephone pole with a steel one, but woodpeckers had made a nest inside it. So they retained that part of the old pole and tied it to the new one so the birds wouldn’t loss their home.
Adding some additional context here:
Original Story
Browser translation to English:
From Argentina
Some more pics at the linked article.
The US and Canada signed the Migratory Bird Treaty in 1918 to protect birds, nests, and eggs and it is against the law to disturb, remove, or kill them for the most part. Mexico signed a similar agreement with the US in 1936.
While probably very upset, the bird parents likely just watched from a safe distance. When they went back to check, they found the nest, saw everything was otherwise as it was, and carried on. Bird parents, especially bird moms, usually do not stray far from the nest and will do their very best to protect it.
Timing could be a thing too. If done fast enough, they just see it as typical disruption, and finding everything as they left it go about living there. If it's gone for a day or more, then they see it as lost.
And they are protective, learned that with bluebirds and a bird house. But they also share some of the aspects of crows, and learn after a bit that you aren't a predator and are just one of the occupants in the area. They stopped buzzing me as long as I didn't linger in the spot or was nearby but doing other things.
Animals react about as differently to things as people do. Some will mind more, some less. I know I got pissed at my jobsite for scaring off a mother dove and she abandoned her egg after I asked them not to do their work there. They also did a crappy job with the netting to keep birds out, and now it traps them. I pulled one stuck baby bird out and took it to the rehab (this week was actually the year anniversary from when I released it back to the wild!) but another I missed or it happened over a weekend and I found it long dead. They still have done nothing to fix it....
I'm glad it seems to have at least mostly worked out for these woodpeckers! Birds are often surprisingly good and caring parents. They sacrifice so much and work so hard!
The surprising part is how the birds weren't frightened away by the disruption. Maybe the imprint of a nest there was strong enough.
They rapidly bash their skulls into trees for hours a day. I'm not sure they can hear well. Do woodpeckers sing?