When we left our happy Northern Flicker couple in last week’s post, they were making great progress with their plum tree nest building. Much sawdust had been mined and the pair were looking pretty pleased with themselves.

I check their progress every time I walk the dog so imagine my surprise when I witnessed a full-scale, no-holds-barred battle taking place between the resident flicker and a starling.

For all the flicker’s size advantage, the starling had pure street fighting instinct going for it. When they finally broke apart, a flicker feather spiralled slowly down through the morning air and into my hand.

The flickers flew back to the nest while the starling pair continued to make fierce calls from the other branches in the tree. Surely, I thought, the flickers must have the advantage here, being so much bigger and on home territory. But …

Once the female flicker had driven the starling off she and the invader both flew over to the neighbour’s fence. The flicker took the opportunity to catch her breath. The starling took the time to perform what looked very much like a starling war ritual, puffing out his feathers, making angry chattering calls and taking out a bit of aggression on a yew hedge before heading back into the fray …

The fight continued for several more minutes. And it was fierce. Somehow the starling got inside the nest and the male flicker tried to keep him trapped in there — unsuccessfully.

Eventually they took a break. Many flicker feathers had floated to the ground. Geordie, the dog, was looking worried that this morning’s walk would never actually get going.

Somewhat reluctantly on my part, we went for our walk. On the way home we, of course, stopped to check in at the state of play at the flicker nest. I fully expected to see the original owners back in control, but …

It seemed that new tenants had moved in and, not only that, they were redecorating to suit …

The Northern Flickers were nursing their wounds and their bruised pride on a neighbour’s roof, hammering out their frustration on the metal chimney.

It looked as if the small but scrappy starlings had won!

But, in the Game of Nests, it’s never over till it’s over … so stay tuned for the next instalment: Conflict Resolution.

Read previous nesting posts:

Tap, Tap, Tap …

Game of Nests

Nesting News

Sometimes you need to listen as well as to look to know what’s going on in the neighbourhood.

This was the first sign that new tenants had moved into the ornamental plum tree on our street (one tree down from the  current chickadee nest.)

The dog stopped to check his social media messages at the base of the tree and, while we were standing there, I noticed that soft tap, tap, tapping, almost lost in the traffic, construction and other urban sounds.

I had a strong suspicion that I knew who was working on this building job and, sure enough …

… the contractor popped his head out of the other end of the tunnel to see who was stopping by to admire the craftsmanship. I assured him he was doing an excellent job and we moved on.

On the return leg of the dog walk I noticed more work in progress.

The female flicker has been doing her share of digging too. You can tell them apart by the red “moustache” on the male.

After a week or more of hewing and spitting out wood chips, the new home owners were looking somewhat tired, but pleased with their efforts.

However, it can be a very competitive housing market here in Vancouver …

Stayed tuned for the next dramatic instalment  of Flicker Nesting 2019 for a tense tale featuring elements of municipal density issues … and, yes, Game of Thrones.

For more on previous year’s Flicker nesting adventures see: Flicker Nesting Saga:
Part One and Part Two