A Mom's Work is Never Done

While walking the @agfoodmuseum grounds, I heard the rapid fire of non stop peeps. They almost sounded like squirrels but not quite, so I followed the sounds to investigate which led me to a tree with a hole in it. I couldn’t see inside the hole and my bird identifying app wasn’t able to figure out what was making those loud and screechy peeps. So, I waited, hoping one of those peeps would pop its head out or maybe mom or dad would swing by. I was right. Mom came around and it turns out I had stumbled upon the nest of… yellow-bellied sapsuckers! Mom would fly back and forth from nearby trees, bringing with her food like bugs to feed to her chicks inside the tree’s hole. Then after a few trips, she would head into the hole herself and clean it, bringing out with her debris and leftovers her chicks had disposed of. The chicks never came out — they were still too young. But watching mom work tirelessly to keep her babies fed, clean, happy and protected was fascinating.