Red Bellied Woodpecker

[Bones]

usually this guy is hard to get a clean shot of, but today he was much more cooperative.

[newtwanger]

Great pics of a real good looking bird!.

Does he know the "red" should be on his belly and not his head?

[goldtopper]

They are skiddish. It's weird, sometimes I'll get them and pileateds and they will just sit there and let me watch them.

[Bones]

Originally Posted by newtwanger

Great pics of a real good looking bird!.

Does he know the "red" should be on his belly and not his head?

Thanks...

They do have a little red spot on the undercarriage, that you can't see in these photos.

[Bones]

Originally Posted by goldtopper

They are skiddish. It's weird, sometimes I'll get them and pileateds and they will just sit there and let me watch them.

I guess their legs are specialized for walking up trees, because they really look funny when they walk on the ground. Weird birds for sure.

[elicross]

I have one that comes to my patio for suet. I love these birds -- looks like they're wearing a herringbone jacket.

[KevinB]

Nice shots (again!) Bones.

And yes, they do indeed have red bellies but it's not easy to see. You have to remember that when most of these birds were originally named, the person doing the naming had a shotgun over his shoulder and a dead bird in his hand!

At the suet feeder in my back yard the little downy woodpeckers give way to the bigger hairy woodpeckers, but they all give way to the red-bellies.

[Bones]

Originally Posted by KevinB

Nice shots (again!) Bones.

And yes, they do indeed have red bellies but it's not easy to see. You have to remember that when most of these birds were originally named, the person doing the naming had a shotgun over his shoulder and a dead bird in his hand!

At the suet feeder in my back yard the little downy woodpeckers give way to the bigger hairy woodpeckers, but they all give way to the red-bellies.

thanks
the only birds giving him a hard time were the blue jays. I had peanuts for them, so they mostly minded their manners.

[newtwanger]

Size-wise where do these guys sit? (some common bird I'd know please)

[glen smith]

That's a cute little fellow!

[KevinB]

They're about the size of a blue jay - maybe a little stockier - but with a much shorter tail.

[dman]

Originally Posted by Bones

thanks
the only birds giving him a hard time were the blue jays. I had peanuts for them, so they mostly minded their manners.

Yep, the jays are the only competition for the red bellies at our peanut feeder, too.

It always amazes me that I can go out to fill the feeder and there will be nary a bird in sight, but I barely make it back to the garage before the jays come squawking in! The chickadees, on the other hand, will only leave the feeder we put premium blend in just long enough to fill, then they're right back in....some of them have even strafed me!

Nice photos, Bones...have you ever seen a red headed woodpecker in your area?

[Bones]

Originally Posted by dman

Nice photos, Bones...have you ever seen a red headed woodpecker in your area?

No, we have Downey and Hairy , saw a downy today but she was only around for a second.

[hekawi]

nice pics! here's some music to accompany them:

[dman]

Originally Posted by Bones

No, we have Downey and Hairy , saw a downy today but she was only around for a second.

We spotted a red headed at our feeder last spring, but literally only for a few minutes...must have been migrating north. Gorgeous bird, though.

Again, terrific shots. May I ask what equipment you used?i

[Bulldog87]

Buddy, that last photo was amazing! They are all great, as usual, but the last one really said something to me!

Keep sharing those awesome photos!

[Stubee]

Nice shots Bones.

[timmytVA]

Beautiful bird, beautiful pics. They visit my deck too. I'll have to dig through my iPhoto library to find the pics. I also get red headed and pileated woodpeckers.

Tim

[KevinB]

Here where I live in the scrubby woods of central NJ, I very rarely see red-headeds, and I never see pileateds. We get tons of red bellied, hairy, downy and flickers though.

The former prefer more open country than I have around me, and the latter prefer more mature trees than we have. The pileateds also don't come much to handing feeders. They are beautiful (fairly big - crow-sized) birds though.

[Wrong-Note Rod]

Originally Posted by goldtopper

They are skiddish. It's weird, sometimes I'll get them and pileateds and they will just sit there and let me watch them.

the pileateds are becoming more and more rare. I almost never see them.

Once, in the early 80s, in Myakka Swamp in Florida, I'm pretty sure I saw one of the last ivory-bills on earth.

Big damned bird.