This season's articles (Excerpted from our printed newsletter):
The Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Named for its least obvious field mark, a faint blush of red on the belly that is rarely seen, the Red-bellied Woodpecker is the largest common woodpecker of the eastern United States. It can be found in almost any wooded area, including suburban neighborhoods and parks. It is immediately recognized by the black-and-white zebra barring on the back. Males have a red nape, crown and forehead. Females have only a red nape. Their length is approximately 9-10 inches and their nests are built in tree cavities, often at the edge of woodlands.
Tolerant to humans, it is a regular visitor to feeders, favoring sunflower seed, suet and fruit. They also consume large numbers of woodboring beetles, grasshoppers, ants, other insect pests and acorns. It is one of the woodpeckers that habitually stores food in the bark of trees, as they hammer acorns and berries into the crevices for winter food.
Highly vocal, the most common call is a loud, rolling churr, less sharp than that of the similar red-headed woodpecker. They also make softer kek notes in short series, similar to the call of a flicker. Red-bellied Woodpeckers have slowly extended their range north in the past fifty years and are now found to extreme southern Canada. In severe winters, the Red-bellied Woodpecker may migrate from the northern reaches of their range to areas where the weather is less severe.
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