La Donna e Mobile: Woman is flighty, like a feather in the wind.
–VERDI’S RIGALETTO
As I was hiking a nearby nature preserve, I was stopped in my tracks by an odd sight up in a lowish branch of a nearby tree. There sat a little bird bobbing its head up and down at regular intervals. Bob, bob, bob….pause. Bob, bob, bob….pause, and so on, over and over. Watching and wondering what on earth it was doing, I finally walked forward enough to see what had previously been hidden behind the trunk of the tree. On another slightly higher branch was a similar bird doing exactly the same motion, but in an opposite pattern. It was bobbing when the other was pausing and pausing when the other was bobbing. So, the little bird I first saw was not and “it” but a “she”. I now recognized the two birds as young flickers, the beautiful woodpeckers that flash brilliant orange on the underside of their wings as they take flight. Obviously participating in some sort of courtship ritual, the feathered couple continued honoring each other with their little bows. Alternately bobbing and pausing, they seemed to be saying:
“I bow to your infinite wisdom and adorable orange tail feathers.”
“And I bow to your limitless beauty and bright red cheek markings.”
“And I grovel at your feet, you delectable puff of exquisite eider down!”
“And I to You, you muscular bundle of fledgling pulchritude!”
“But, I bow to YOU!” “NO, I to YOU!” “No, YOU!”, “No, YOU!”
…………….on and on, in a reciprocal dance of mutual admiration.
This charming seesaw of adulation may have continued indefinitely had it not been interrupted by a much larger bird that flew in and started flapping its wings aggressively at the bird in the uppermost branch.
The two males fluttered and scuffled, their fiery undersides flashing fiercely in the raucous kerfuffle. The larger, more mature bird ultimately won out, chasing the smaller bird away.
What was so amusing about this whole display, was the detached attitude of the young female throughout the entire skirmish. Rather than acting frightened or flying away when the fight started, she immediately began pecking nonchalantly at the tree trunk in front of her. Seemingly oblivious to the ruckus unfolding around her, she daintily pecked at presumed insects as if to say, “Who, moi???? I have no idea who these hooligans are. I was just having my lunch, minding my own business when these two ruffians…..”, etcetera, etcetera and so forth.
For another tale about Flicker behavior see: Out with the Old