Here's an interesting email I received regarding that bird from Russell Rogers, a cyclist on the Olympic Peninsula: "Your resident cycling ornithologist here. That is a Red-breasted Sapsucker. The behavior it is engaged in is territorial drumming. It is the same principle as a song bird singing from the tree top. You can actually identify some woodpeckers by their drumming pattern. Sapsuckers have a rapid-fire start that slowly tapers off. It's pretty cool. Another interesting behavior is contact drumming. During cavity excavation the pair will take turns doing the work. One will work on it while the other is out feeding. Then the one that was out feeding will come to a nearby tree and tap a few times. Then the one in the nest hole will tap. They will do this several times and swap places. "I think it is pretty neat that Sapsuckers and other woodpeckers have adapted to man-made metal objects to communicate with each other. I think it shows a pretty clear ability to learn as it was certainly not part of their evolutionary past. "I did a research project about 10 years ago on White-headed Woodpeckers in e WA. I got to spend an entire year chasing woodpeckers around the east Cascade Ponderosa Pine forest. It was absolutely great! I had a blast." -- Russell Rogers