Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine
Written by an evolutionary biologist/ornithologist who writes about E3 -- Evolution, Ecology and Ethology -- and the subtle relationships between these phenomena, especially in birds.
GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist and ornithologist who loves to write about "E3": evolution, ethology and ecology and the subtle relationships between these fields, especially in birds.
GrrlScientist's new blog can be accessed through any one of these five domain names: GrrlScientist.net, grrlscientist.org, grrlscientist.info, grrlscientist.com, or grrlscientist.us (keep in mind that, in the future, these domains may point to different places). GrrlScientist's current blog home is at her NATURE Network blog, Maniraptora.
Online interviews with GrrlScientist: Kolibri Expeditions, ScienceOnline09, Nature Blog Network and ScienceBlogs. More biographical information about GrrlScientist.
Follow GrrlScientist:
GrrlScientist's banner was designed by graphic artist, Jeff Hebert, whose other work can be viewed at his site, Hero Machine.
|
|
« El Baile del Perrito | Main | Mystery Bird: Western Kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis »
Topic Categories: Behavior • Ornithology • Reptiles • Streaming videos
Posted on: December 12, 2009 6:59 AM, by "GrrlScientist"
tags: Woodpecker vs Snake, behavior, birds, Giant Bird Snake, Pseustes sulphureus, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Campephilus melanoleucos, streaming video
Here is some remarkable footage from somewhere in the Amazon (Peru?) of a Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Campephilus melanoleucos, taking on a "Giant bird snake" or "puffing snake", Pseustes sulphureus, that has raided its nest and swallowed its eggs.
Life Science
Brain & BehaviorOrac 02.13.2012
Tim Lambert 02.01.2012
Tim Lambert 09.12.2011
ERV 11.26.2011
Orac 02.09.2012
Comments
That woodpecker didn't have a chance.
Posted by: Tabor | December 12, 2009 9:41 AM
I was expecting a dramatic finish, like the wood pecker flies down from above with a katana and decapitates the snake. I was sorely disappointed. >:C
Posted by: Woodpecker Fan | December 12, 2009 3:14 PM
Everyone seems let down that the snake won. But to an insect, the woodpecker is a snake.
Posted by: joshua | December 12, 2009 3:52 PM
everyone is let down the snake one bc ppl fear snake and not woodpeckers. also, ppl fear insects more than woodpeckers as well.
Posted by: Leo | December 12, 2009 4:05 PM
not everyone fears snakes, the reason you root for the woodpecker is because of the backstory, the woodpeckers eggs and nest being attacked by the snake. If it had been the otherway around people would want the snake to revenge the woodpecker.
Posted by: Arthur | December 12, 2009 6:26 PM
Hard, too early, to tell who won.
Snakes are highly vulnerable to skin damage and puncture wounds and given a warm, moist germ laden environment, like the Amazon perhaps, it is entirely possible that snake may have enjoyed its last meal. Not all victories involve returning home with the head of an opponent and a parade. A quick jab followed by a slow infection and painful death a week later still counts.
It is also possible that one or more eggs may have survived the snakes predation. How many eggs does that species of pecker usually lay? Getting pecked on seems to have distracted the snake. Distracted soon enough? Remains to be seen. Seems the snake got at least one.
Of course if the snake was damaged enough to be debilitated, or die, losing a clutch of eggs might still be considered victory. Predator gone the pecker can lay more.
Posted by: Art | December 12, 2009 7:17 PM
By the way, here's a link to a higher resolution version of the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTMuMK2KOn8&fmt=18
Posted by: joshua | December 12, 2009 7:28 PM
Saw this a month or so ago at cyberthrush's site and was amazed at the woodpecker's determination; I've seen other bird species (even bigger ones) cower at the presence of a snake at their nestsite.
Posted by: delphi4c | December 12, 2009 7:58 PM
It's back:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISAlxB3_d1U
Posted by: Greg Laden | March 21, 2010 12:33 AM