Paul Bannick Watches Young Flickers Fledge Transcript-1557

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BirdNote®

Paul Bannick Watches Young Flickers Fledge

Interview of Paul Bannick written up by Chris Peterson

 This is BirdNote.
 [Northern Flicker nestlings and an adult]
  Photographer and naturalist Paul Bannick tells us of a time, in May, in the forests of North Carolina, when he heard Northern Flicker parents urging their chicks to fledge.
 [Northern Flickers calling to their young]
So I followed the source of those calls and I found a cavity and there was a young, timid, brown head sticking out of that cavity. I can imagine this bird would be nervous about taking its first flight, and I was surprised there was only one chick. It gripped the front of the cavity and plunged forward. I was expecting it to fall and wobble, but it went on a really smooth, direct flight to the parents.
 And then I looked back at the cavity and up popped another bird right into place! And it reminded me of a Pez dispenser—with a little head popping right into the hole. And this bird followed the exact same process: again, timidly putting its head out of the hole before thrusting its torso out, before getting the courage up to press its claws against the lip of the cavity , and again, push itself out and follow that course. As soon as that bird did so, up pops another – right into position! Eventually, four flickers fledged from that cavity.
 [Northern Flicker social vocalizations]
 When I saw those Northern Flickers fledging, there was no way I was going to put aside the opportunity to witness one of the most spectacular but simple, and  common, spectacles in nature. 
[Repeat Northern Flicker vocalizations]
 To see the flickers Paul Bannick photographed, come to birdnote.org.
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Calls of the adult and nestling Northern Flickers provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.  Nestling and adult exchange recorded by Kevin Colver; Wick-a call ML 111025 recorded by Thomas G .Sander; Kleeyer call ML 21976 by Curtis Marantz.                
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2009 Tune In to Nature.org

ID# pbannick-05-2009-05-26-