A neighborhood vandal has terrorized more than 20 vehicles in the Massachusetts town of Rockport, but there’s not much the police can do about it. That’s because the “vandal” is an animal about 18-24 inches tall. It always wears black and white to do its dirty deeds, along with a bright-red “hat.” It’s a male woodpecker, and it’s pecking at all the car windows in Rockport, Massachusetts because it thinks its reflection is a rival woodpecker.
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Experts say the culprit is a pileated woodpecker, which All About Birds calls “one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent.” These animals have black-and-white striped feathers on their bodies and a bold red crest on the tops of their heads. Pileated woodpeckers live throughout much of the central and eastern United States, along with some areas of the Pacific Northwest.
But why is this woodpecker (or, perhaps multiple woodpeckers) pecking at car windows in Massachusetts? It’s mating season for these birds, and, apparently, the birds are feeling a bit aggressive. When a male woodpecker sees its own reflection, it might become confused and think a rival is staring it down. The folks of Rockport can tell you what happens next.
Watch a woodpecker terrorize a Massachusetts town here:
Header stock image from DIGIcal via Getty