The mother risked her own life by flying into the birdbox literally right under the nose of the woodpecker. I could clearly see that after that the woodpecker had some down/ feathers in his beak!
What happened inside the birdbox was captured on video:
Woodpecker returns, 14 May 2014 8:25am
0:00 Chicks are on the nest, one of them is preening.
0:06 Woodpecker lands at the entrance of the birdbox. At first, one baby thinks it is mum or dad and he rises and opens his beak begging for food.
0:08 Chick realises the danger and lies flat on the nest
0:55 Mother risks her own life by flying into the birdbox right under the nose of the woodpecker. With my binoculars I could clearly see some down/ feathers in the beak of the woodpecker. In the video you can see a damaged feather on the outside of the mother's left wing. This was almost certainly caused by the woodpecker (I checked video images from just 2 minutes earlier - no damage).
1:16 Father also enters the birdbox flying close past the woodpecker. This can only be heard, he is outside the view of the camera.
1:47 Father leaves the birdbox again (not visible, can only be heard).
2:00 Woodpecker has gone, but mother stays alert for a long time. Chicks keep lying flat on the nest.
3:03 Father brings food. The situation normalises.
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