Last summer I discovered the nest of a pair of red-naped sapsuckers, which are colorful and industrious woodpeckers that excavate their nest cavity out of a live aspen tree. I went back to the same spot this spring to see if the same nesting pair might have returned. I noticed one of them flying around nearby, however, it didn’t return to the nest cavity from the previous year. Instead, I discovered that it was busy drilling out a new nest cavity about 3 feet away from the previous one in the same tree. I returned several times over the period of a week or so to watch the sapsuckers work to excavate their new nest cavity. As they progressed, they would disappear into the hole as they chipped away to enlarge the cavity. After a while, they would back out with a beak full of wood chips which they would fling away. Then after a short break they would repeat the process. I couldn’t always tell whether the male or female was working on the nest, but I saw both, although apparently the male does most of the excavation work. They were still busy working on it about a week after I first spotted them, although then I had to leave town and I wasn’t able to return for a while.
My photos of the nest excavation were taken in mid to late May. When I returned to the nest site at the end of June, I could hear the sound of nestlings inside the nest cavity crying to be fed. I could see the parents returning to the nest to feed the chicks, but I wasn’t able to see the young ones. A bit over a week later I returned again and was rewarded with the sight of a young sapsucker chick poking its head out of the nest hole. Based on the vocalizations there appeared to be only a single chick in the nest. Since sapsuckers typically lay multiple eggs, perhaps only a single one had survived?
During my observations of the sapsucker nest, I noticed another bird in the sapsucker’s nest cavity from the previous year. Apparently, a pair of violet-green swallows took up residence in the old nest site. Since sapsuckers are one of the few woodpeckers that drill cavities into trees, other birds often use their old nest cavities. While I haven’t yet seen evidence of swallow chicks, I did get a few photos of the swallow neighbors at their nest.