In one month, my long awaited second book on animal magic, Divining with Animal Guides, will be available. I am giving away one free copy to USA residents before the publication date. If you would like to become eligible for the drawing of a free, signed copy, sign up for my mailing list! Click here. I average less than one email a month, so you won't be inundated. The winner will be notified by email. Here is an excerpt from the book:

What would woodpeckers have been saying to the human tappers and what are they saying to each other? There is a Central American woodpecker called La Telegrafista because her relatively short taps sound like a telegraph machine, but I am not suggesting that woodpecker language is anything as complex as what we would have sent over a telegraph. Woodpeckers are saying:

“Hey babe!”
“Good morning.”
“Danger!”
“Where are you?”
“Get out of here!”
“What do you think of this nest site, dear?”

Territorial and romantic drums sound the same to us, though woodpeckers themselves know the difference. Woodpeckers are careful listeners. They get information from echoes and vibrations in materials they tap. Sometimes they strike a piece of wood and listen for the scurrying of insects. They can be induced to start drumming when a human nearby begins tapping, for example on a typewriter.

As for what woodpeckers told the human tappers, North American folklore says that woodpeckers predict the severity of the coming winter and that woodpeckers disappear in anticipation of extreme cold. A pervasive belief found in both Eastern and Western Europe is that the pecking is a sign of rain on the horizon, perhaps because the loud pecking of some species can resemble a distant thunder roll. In this regard, it is interesting that the woodpecker is the bird of the redheaded Norse god Thor, who wields the hammer and lightning bolt. More obscurely, the woodpecker is said to lead an observer to treasure. I have found that birds who bring rain are very often considered treasure birds.

Categories:

0 comments on this article

This thread has been closed from taking new comments.