Counting Feathers Between Friends

All but one of the seven species of woodpeckers known to inhabit New Jersey have discovered Adrian Savage's backyard. And rest assured, that one species is missing out.
Savage, the co-founder and president of PNA, Inc., a provider of organizational development systems, and his wife are helping several species of birds survive the winter. The woodpeckers have their own feeder — carefully positioned in a way that lead even the fussiest bird to think of home.
"We try to attract a range of birds and get them to nest. We had hummingbirds, wrens, robins, and woodpeckers in our yard this year," says Savage, who hopes to woo bluebirds to his one-acre Clinton, NJ, property next year. "They came and looked at the boxes I put up, but rejected them. I probably didn't put them in the right place."
Savage and his wife picked up bird-watching out of sheer boredom during an Alaskan cruise in 1996. "The cruise was terrible, and we found we had no interest in gambling or eating ourselves to death," says Savage, 55. A pair of old binoculars saved the trip and started a passion for bird-watching.
The hobby has taken them to tropical rain forests, the Hungarian steppes, mountains in Switzerland, the Arizona desert, Trinidad and Tobago, and, most recently, Ecuador. Between the two of them, they have spotted nearly 1,400 species.
The couple moved to the United States from the United Kingdom about two years ago and were excited to start over in a new habitat with a whole range of new birds. They live about 100 miles from Cape May, known as "a mecca for bird-watchers," says Savage, an active member of New Jersey Audubon.
The move to the U.S. has also allowed Savage to make a few observations about two-legged animals.
"American birders tend to carry field guides and consult them frequently. British birders think this is namby-pamby stuff and only consult them surreptitiously when they get home," says Savage. "I'm half in between. Normally, if I'm going somewhere I carry a field guide, but I still have a minor embarrassment about getting it out and looking at it in public."

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