Grandma Pearl's Backporch: red-bellied woodpecker

One of My Favorite Birds

Male Hairy Woodpecker
by Grandma Pearl

Need a cool birding app? Check out: iKnowBirdSongs.com to download. 15% of all sales go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to support their very important bird research. In return, you can easily learn to identify your favorite birds by hearing their calls and songs on your PC or mobile device.

Do you have a life list?
I started mine many, many years ago. But it is limited to my own region. If someday I get a chance to travel, I will definitely go to places where a variety of birds are present. Alternatively, birding festivals are a chance to see migratory birds you may never see anywhere else. There's probably one near you--Here's the link to a list of birding opportunities:
www.birdwatchersdigest.com

Upcoming Birding Festival:

Festival of the Cranes in Socorro, New Mexico

Dates: 11-19 through 11-24-13

Where: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

Contact: www.FestivaloftheCranes.com

I Recommend:

Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America

It is filled with colorful illustrations of birds, grouped together with similar species, and well organized for easy reference. This is a combination of both the Peterson Guide to Birds of Eastern U.S. and Western U.S. Range Maps are included, and the illustrations are large to make bird identification simple and fun. I love this book, and refer to it often.

Grandma Pearl

What is a Bird Festival?

Baby Downy Woodpeckers

Red-Bellied Woodpeckers

The Red-Bellied Woodpeckers are very active at the feeders right now. Every time I put some day-old bread out, they are there with bells on!

This is a photo of one of the male Red-Bellied Woodpeckers that frequent my woods. You can't miss their 'kwirr, kwirr' call as they swoop in for sunflower seeds. All the other birds scatter in the wake of this impressive and handsome 9 1/2" bird.

I see them year round because I feed them year round. In the wintertime I hang suet cakes and peanut butter log feeders for them to enjoy.

Female Red-Bellied Woodpecker
by Grandma Pearl

This is a photo I took just recently that clearly shows the 'zebra' back of the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. That young white birch tree is one of their favorites, as you can see from all the tiny 'seed' holes in the bark. It's not far from the feeders.

Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, as well as Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, use these holes when they eat sunflower seeds. They wedge the seed in and bang it into tiny edible pieces.

Female Red-Bellied Woodpecker clinging to White Birch tree
by Grandma Pearl

You can tell the difference between male and female, or juvenile, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers by looking at the top of their heads. If the head is red on top, it is a male. This is an adult female red-bellied woodpecker with no red on the top of her head.

A juvenile would have a brown head with no red on the top.

Once in a while I catch sight of the rosey blush on the stomach of these wonderful birds.

Woodpecker tree where Red-Bellied Woodpeckers excavate and fill food storage holes.
by Grandma Pearl

Red-Bellied Woodpeckers make rows of holes in which to store their seeds, nuts and wild fruits.

'Zebrabacks' as they are also known, are found more commonly in the south, but have expanded their range to include Michigan, New York and parts of New England. I'm grateful for that, not only for their beauty but for their voracious appetite for beetles, caterpillars, ants and grasshoppers!

Short Video of Red-Bellied Woodpecker excavating a nest cavity; and vocalizing.

Grandma Pearl

Hairy Woodpeckers