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Description
Order: Piciformes (Piciformes)
Family: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Habitat: mangrove forests on the Atlantic coast of America, Greater Antigua, small Antilles.
Woodpecker on the seashore? This may seem unusual, but only at first glance. Where there are mangroves, there are, for example, monkeys - forest animals. And in the Neocene, when the climate became much warmer, and the range of mangroves expanded, the development of mangroves became a solution to the problem of survival for many species that had not previously been found in these biotopes.
In the late Holocene, when a wave of glaciation covered a significant part of North America, many species moved to the south of the mainland in search of suitable habitats. The ocean level dropped, and areas formerly marine shallow waters turned into land. The area of the Caribbean islands increased, and some migrants from the north still found a way to salvation in the south. Among them were some species of North American woodpeckers. They found their new home on the vast island of Greater Antigua. There were forests and a lot of food. But over time, the sea level began to rise - the glaciers melted. The collision of the Caribbean lithospheric plate with the North American plate gradually growing in the Atlantic zone compensated for the immersion of the island in water, but all the same, the area of Greater Antigua decreased compared to what it was in the ice age. This intensified the competition between forest inhabitants, and some species faced a choice: to change their place of residence, or to die out. And one of the species of woodpeckers mastered a new biotope for these birds: a strip of mangrove forests, where it spawned several more species that reached prosperity in the Neocene.
Mangrove woodpecker is a very large species of woodpeckers: the wingspan reaches a meter. This is a bird of a characteristic "woodpecker" appearance, with a pointed tail of hard feathers, black and white. The body above is almost entirely black, only there are white marks on the wings, and the feathers of the wings are striated. The belly is completely white. Against the background of plumage, the red head of the bird with white “cheeks” stands out as a bright spot. The beak is black.
This bird eats boring bivalve mollusks (the so-called “shipworms”), which settle in the roots of mangroves and on floating wood. Having discovered a tree or coconut thrown out by the waves, the bird examines it, looking for drillers. Usually, the mangrove woodpecker stays among the mangrove trees, very rarely leaving such a safe place, protected by impassable swamps and a thick picket fence of branches. At high tide, this bird feeds on insects living in the crowns of mangroves, and at low tide it descends to the roots, where the favorite food of the mangrove woodpecker lives - drilling bivalves. Their presence can be easily recognized: round holes of holes were drilled below the average tide level in the roots of plants. At high tide, respiratory siphons of mollusks protrude from them. Having discovered the passages of "shipworms", the bird opens the root with the blows of a strong beak. With strong blows, the bird breaks off large chips from the root, and finally gets the desired food. A woodpecker swallows this mollusk along with a rudimentary shell that is digested in his stomach.
Adult woodpeckers of this species live in married couples that last for life. Mangrove woodpecker is very territorial. Each pair occupies a vast area of mangrove forest and actively protects it from relatives. A couple of birds declares rights to the territory with shouts similar to hoarse laughter. Often birds cry in a duet, alternating in turn, and their voices last ten to fifteen minutes almost continuously. If an outsider appears on the territory, the couple kicks him out together, accompanying the attacks with menacing screams and flapping wings. Threatening rivals, adult birds grouch red feathers on the head, which makes it seem much larger.
Twice a year, mangrove woodpeckers nest. A single male who is about to start a family for the first time occupies a free territory or expels a competitor from it. He carefully examines his territory, choosing trees suitable for nesting. Another condition for his success is a good “musical” knot resonating under the blows of the beak. On such knot the male diligently knocks out marital calls with his beak. If he is attractive to the female, she remains in his territory. The pair has been stating to potential competitors for some time that the rights to this section of mangroves are occupied: in the mornings and in the evenings the birds cry for a long time. If the pair has formed successfully, the birds begin to build a nest.
For nesting woodpeckers choose large mangrove trees located in the most inaccessible areas of thickets. The couple jointly hollows a large hollow (with a diameter of up to 15 cm and a depth of up to a meter), in which it grows two to three chicks. The eggs lie on a litter of wood dust, and birds take turns incubating them for two weeks. Chicks are hatched and dressed in rare fluff. They fledge completely at about five weeks of age, and then leave the nest. For about a week they roam along the parental territory with their parents, and then childhood ends: adult birds drive away the offspring. After about two to three weeks, adult birds nest a second time. In the second clutch there are no more than two eggs.
Young birds differ from adults in that the red color on their head is replaced by black. Thanks to this, they can feed with relative impunity on the territory of adult birds. In the second year of life, they become adults, and red feathers begin to grow on their heads.

Description
Order: Piciformes (Piciformes)
Family: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Habitat: mangrove forests on the Atlantic coast of America, Greater Antigua, small Antilles.
Woodpecker on the seashore? This may seem unusual, but only at first glance. Where there are mangroves, there are, for example, monkeys - forest animals. And in the Neocene, when the climate became much warmer, and the range of mangroves expanded, the development of mangroves became a solution to the problem of survival for many species that had not previously been found in these biotopes.
In the late Holocene, when a wave of glaciation covered a significant part of North America, many species moved to the south of the mainland in search of suitable habitats. The ocean level dropped, and areas formerly marine shallow waters turned into land. The area of the Caribbean islands increased, and some migrants from the north still found a way to salvation in the south. Among them were some species of North American woodpeckers. They found their new home on the vast island of Greater Antigua. There were forests and a lot of food. But over time, the sea level began to rise - the glaciers melted. The collision of the Caribbean lithospheric plate with the North American plate gradually growing in the Atlantic zone compensated for the immersion of the island in water, but all the same, the area of Greater Antigua decreased compared to what it was in the ice age. This intensified the competition between forest inhabitants, and some species faced a choice: to change their place of residence, or to die out. And one of the species of woodpeckers mastered a new biotope for these birds: a strip of mangrove forests, where it spawned several more species that reached prosperity in the Neocene.
Mangrove woodpecker is a very large species of woodpeckers: the wingspan reaches a meter. This is a bird of a characteristic "woodpecker" appearance, with a pointed tail of hard feathers, black and white. The body above is almost entirely black, only there are white marks on the wings, and the feathers of the wings are striated. The belly is completely white. Against the background of plumage, the red head of the bird with white “cheeks” stands out as a bright spot. The beak is black.
This bird eats boring bivalve mollusks (the so-called “shipworms”), which settle in the roots of mangroves and on floating wood. Having discovered a tree or coconut thrown out by the waves, the bird examines it, looking for drillers. Usually, the mangrove woodpecker stays among the mangrove trees, very rarely leaving such a safe place, protected by impassable swamps and a thick picket fence of branches. At high tide, this bird feeds on insects living in the crowns of mangroves, and at low tide it descends to the roots, where the favorite food of the mangrove woodpecker lives - drilling bivalves. Their presence can be easily recognized: round holes of holes were drilled below the average tide level in the roots of plants. At high tide, respiratory siphons of mollusks protrude from them. Having discovered the passages of "shipworms", the bird opens the root with the blows of a strong beak. With strong blows, the bird breaks off large chips from the root, and finally gets the desired food. A woodpecker swallows this mollusk along with a rudimentary shell that is digested in his stomach.
Adult woodpeckers of this species live in married couples that last for life. Mangrove woodpecker is very territorial. Each pair occupies a vast area of mangrove forest and actively protects it from relatives. A couple of birds declares rights to the territory with shouts similar to hoarse laughter. Often birds cry in a duet, alternating in turn, and their voices last ten to fifteen minutes almost continuously. If an outsider appears on the territory, the couple kicks him out together, accompanying the attacks with menacing screams and flapping wings. Threatening rivals, adult birds grouch red feathers on the head, which makes it seem much larger.
Twice a year, mangrove woodpeckers nest. A single male who is about to start a family for the first time occupies a free territory or expels a competitor from it. He carefully examines his territory, choosing trees suitable for nesting. Another condition for his success is a good “musical” knot resonating under the blows of the beak. On such knot the male diligently knocks out marital calls with his beak. If he is attractive to the female, she remains in his territory. The pair has been stating to potential competitors for some time that the rights to this section of mangroves are occupied: in the mornings and in the evenings the birds cry for a long time. If the pair has formed successfully, the birds begin to build a nest.
For nesting woodpeckers choose large mangrove trees located in the most inaccessible areas of thickets. The couple jointly hollows a large hollow (with a diameter of up to 15 cm and a depth of up to a meter), in which it grows two to three chicks. The eggs lie on a litter of wood dust, and birds take turns incubating them for two weeks. Chicks are hatched and dressed in rare fluff. They fledge completely at about five weeks of age, and then leave the nest. For about a week they roam along the parental territory with their parents, and then childhood ends: adult birds drive away the offspring. After about two to three weeks, adult birds nest a second time. In the second clutch there are no more than two eggs.
Young birds differ from adults in that the red color on their head is replaced by black. Thanks to this, they can feed with relative impunity on the territory of adult birds. In the second year of life, they become adults, and red feathers begin to grow on their heads.