Red-bellied Woodpecker
Don’t get these confused with the ever rarer red-headed woodpecker. The Red-bellied Woodpeckers are pale, medium-sized woodpeckers. Their strikingly barred backs and gleaming red caps make them an unforgettable sight. Look for them along branches and trunks of trees, picking at the bark surface more often than drilling into it. Red-bellied Woodpeckers are common in many Eastern woodlands and forests, from old stands of oak and hickory to young hardwoods and pines. They will also often venture from forests to appear at backyard feeders. To attack these backyard beauties to your feeders offer feed such as Suet, Woodpecker Mix, or Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. Fun fact: a Red-bellied Woodpecker can stick out its tongue nearly 2 inches past the end of its beak. The tip is barbed and the bird’s spit is sticky, making it easier to snatch prey from deep crevices. Males have longer, wider-tipped tongues than females, possibly allowing a breeding pair to forage in slightly different places on their territory and maximize their use of available food.
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Thanks for the wonderful red-bellied woodpecker sounds. They frequent my feeds quite often.
You’re welcome! They are a delightful bird!
My favorite woodpecker! I have many photos of them at our feeders if u need anymore photos!
I love to see this bird at my feeders…but my little boys wish they’d rename the bird to red head woodpecker!!
Thank you for your emails. Hope the cats are ok. We just got a kitty from the APL ourselves.
Red-head would make sense! Congratulations on your kitty! Bam Bam and Pebbles are doing great. Bam Bam loves wandering around in the garden center!
We’d love to see your photos! You can send them to rockpileweb@therockpile.com. Thanks!
I recently got a picture of a red bellied wood pecker with it’s tongue fully extended!
I is an awsome sight.
I live in south central Ontario, and we feed birds all year. We have several different wood peckers feeding all winter.