Southeast Birds

Red Bellied Woodpecker

by admin on Oct.06, 2009, under Medium Sized Birds

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Red Bellied Woodpecker


Description

The male Red Bellied Woodpecker is most recognizable by the red stripe that starts on his forehead and ends at the upper back. The rest of his face and chest are white or gray and he has a mostly hidden red patch on his belly. His beak is long and black and his legs and feet are gray. He has a beautiful black and white striped and checkered pattern on his back and wings. His inner tail feathers have a black and white barred pattern and the outer tail feathers are black.

The female is very similar to the male except the red stripe starts at the back of her head and ends at the upper back. She also has a reddish patch around her beak. Also, her beak seems to be a bit smaller than the male’s beak.

The juvenile has a yellowish stripe like the adults and a yellowish area around the beak and under the eyes.

Habitat

The Red Bellied Woodpecker can be found in swampy wooded or open forest areas in the Eastern region of North America. Although they are resident birds, the birds in the most Northern part of the Eastern region will likely migrate south in the winter. You will find them nesting mostly in the cavities of dead trees, or in large trees such as elms or maples and sometimes even telephone polls.

Diet

Red Belly Woodpecker

Red Belly Woodpecker

The preferred diet is seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries as well as insects such as beetles, ants, grasshoppers, and caterpillars. They will normally scale the bark away from the tree looking for insects rather than drill into it like most other Woodpeckers. They will also feed from bird feeders especially if the seed in the feeder contains nuts.

They are known to store food for winter.

Because the male’s beak is a little bigger, you will see him feeding primarily on tree trunks and the female will normally be seen feeding on tree branches.

Facts

- Because they are attracted to sounds that resonate, the male can be heard tapping on a hard surface such as metal siding or even cars to attract a female.

- Incubation period is about three weeks.

- Both the male and the female build their nests and care for their young together.

- As aggressive as the Red Bellied Woodpecker is, Starlings have been known to drive them out of their nests.

- The cavities they dig in trees for nesting is usually taken over by smaller cavity dwelling birds and mammals after the Red bellied Woodpecker has vacated the nest.

- It takes just a little over a week for them to carve a cavity into a dead tree for nesting.

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