Woodpeckers peck.

At the desk, 7:04 a.m.

In my neighborhood, at this time of year, male woodpeckers fly the loudest, shiniest, highest, most obvious place. In this location, this high ground if you will, they proceed to peck. The louder the racket, the farther the sound carries, the more likely they will mate this year.

You see, the woodpecker must advertise his pecker. How else will he get the best and most beautiful mate?

Contrast this with the king and queen of all birds, the golden eagle. Golden eagles mate and even hunt together. In the female eagle lays one to four eggs, however usually only the oldest survives. Due to the oldest size, they usually win in the competition for resources. Outside of human beings, their only know predators are wolverines, brown bears, and stupid humans.

Or let's for a moment look at the funny, friendly cormorant. Adept at flight and swimming, the male birds do this funny mating dance only after they create a viable nest. Female cormorants go from nest to nest inspecting the quality of the nest until finally choosing a mate. Once the mate is chosen, the male and female bird equally share the responsibility for raising the chicks. Cormorants are social birds who live happily together in large social colonies.

Why am I thinking about the woodpeckers this morning? Because one has decided to hammer away at the shiny stuff at the top of our neighborhood Jones's house today. (You know, the Jones, the ones you're supposed to keep up with.) There's a golden eagle pair that live in or around our backyard. I see them chasing the feral cats and pigeons. And the funny cormorants live in a large colony in the park down the street.

And somehow all of that's fitting.

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