Red-Bellied Woodpecker: Common in Wisconsin
The Red-Bellied Woodpecker is a common woodpecker in Wisconsin.
This beautiful medium-sized bird sticks around my area all year-long.
If they live in the Northern regions, they will migrate down if it gets to cold for them during the winter months.
I absolutely love the color of this bird, that red-head is so vibrant and cheery looking. But, I’m a lover of red anyway!
Even though many want to call these guys Red-Headed Woodpeckers, they are not. The Red-Head is actually a somewhat rare species that’s mostly black on the back with big white wing patches.
The males have the full red caps, while the females have less of a red cap with more brown. Either way they are both a treat to watch.
The Red-Bellied Woodpeckers prefer to hang out in the wooded areas.
Especially in the areas with old large trees, such as the Oaks.
I happen to live in a very wooded area surrounded in old Oaks.
So I get to watch these guys every day at my bird feeder or hopping around my trees.
If you live near a wooded area and want attract these woodpeckers.
Add peanuts to your bird seed mix, they love peanuts. As well as suet during the winter months.
During the summer months they eat a variety of berries, bugs to tree frogs. They have also been seen eating the nectar from humming-bird feeders.
The Red-Bellied Woodpecker’s tongue is about 2 inches past it’s beak.
It has sticky spit to make it easier to catch its prey from the crevices of trees.
If you keep a close watch on them. Sometimes you’ll see them bury seeds and nuts in the crevasses of trees or even fence posts.
The Red-Bellied Woodpecker builds their nests in cavities or nest in holes.
They have also been known to take over other birds nests.
Their biggest enemies are the birds of prey. As well as the European Starlings, Pileated Woodpeckers to snakes.
The Red-Bellied Woodpecker is a very shy bird and won’t allow you to get to close.
But this little guy didn’t seem to be bothered by me to much.
I took these photos from my window, I was very close to him and watched him for quite sometime.
It happened to be very cold and windy that day.
A lot of the time he just sat to stay warm and out of the wind.
He just looked up at me every once in a while as if he was saying hi to me, and went on about his business.
Birds are one of my favorite creatures on this Earth. I love how they fly through the air and through the forest, dodging everything in their way.
I spend hours watching , observing and photographing them.
It amazes me how smart they are and how unique each is, in their own special way.
So next time your outside or just looking at a bird feeder. Take the time to actually watch and study them, you may just learn something, you didn’t know.
