Educate Yourself About the Red-bellied Woodpecker and Other Woodpeckers
Red-bellied Woodpecker
The Red-bellied Woodpecker has a red cap that covers the crown and nape, zebra back pattern, barred upperside, white patch on wings, and a speckled rump. Its length is 16-19 ½ in (41-50cm) Its wingspan is 29in (74cm) Its voice is a call of “kik-kik-kikkik—kik-kik”, like that of a flicker, but louder and more irregular. Their eggs are pure white, with one clutch consisting of 4-5 or (3-5) eggs. Both male and female incubate (the male at night) for about 15-18 days, and fledging time is around 26-28 days. Both male and female feed their young.Male and female look alike, except for a vermillion red nape, crown, and forehead on the male, the female only has a red nape.
The Red-bellied Woodpecker is usually found in mixed groves of conifers, deciduous trees, along swamps, and rivers in wooded bottomlands. But you will find them frequently visiting your hanging bird feeders and bird tables, in your lovely bird feeding garden, especially if you have trees and shrubs close by.
They are named after their seldom seen patch on the bottom of their bellies, and look a lot like the Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis), and the Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons) witch are found in the Southwest. Their population is also increasing, as their range is expanding more northwards, perhaps due to warming climates.
The process of excavation and extracting of fly larvae, is done by hanging on to the stems of goldenrod, and determining the quality of the fly larvae, by tapping on the ball-shaped galls, and listen for a response with their sharp hearing. Woodpeckers have a huge appetite for suet, and that probably comes from their great fondness of insect larvae witch are both high in fat. The woodpeckers also have sticky, saliva coated tongues, and tipped with barbs and bristles, twice as long as the beak, witch they probe into cavities searching for larvae, and other insects.
They are also known to store nuts, fruit pulp, insects, and acorns for later feedings, by hiding their caches, and covering it with vegetation. This is done to prevent thefts from Pileated Woodpeckers, who will frequently steel their hidden reserves. They drill holes to extract hidden treasures, like larvae of wood-boring beetles, and search for insects in the bark, but often enjoy berries as well.
They will both help excavate the nesting hole; witch is normally located in a dead and partly decaying branch, high up in a tree. The parents will take turns feeding the young ones the first week after hatching, and will usually continue to do so for another six weeks.
If you like to attract the Red-bellied Woodpecker to your lovely bird feeding garden, hang raw beef-kidney suet in a mesh bag, or a commercial one, and they love a nice helping of peanut butter and sunflower seeds too. Remember not to put out any suet, when temperatures are well above freezing since this can stain their feathers when the suet turns rancid. You can also offer whole corn, and a nice way to do so is to take a board, drive a spike trough it, and press the whole corn into it. Make sure the board is securely strapped to the tree trunk.
