Woodpecker

[Rusty]

I finally got the guy I've been after! We get lots of little ladder-backs at our suet feeder: Hairies and Downies. Often more than one at a time.

There's one we seldom see; I finally had the camera within grabbing distance when he came this morning.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1FU7wBabLC4dIZIn6BQLY0HEgXA1E1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1FU7wBabLC4dIZIn6BQLY0HEgXA1E1)

My Birds of North America leads me to believe this is a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. This is a good sized bird, close to the size of a Robin; much larger than the small ones we usually see.

I'm sure there is somebody here that knows birds. Can you confirm what I think this is?

Thanks,
Rusty :)

[Byron Gale]

Nice shooting, Rusty!

There are some birds that winter in this area that look and sound like these (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/849/overview/Gilded_Flicker.aspx) , but according to the information they don't belong here.

They are very elusive, and I can usually only hear them calling... occasionally, I can glimpse them in tree-tops, but I've never gotten near one with a camera.

Byron

[ronstelzy]

Rusty,
It looks like the same sucker that keeps knocking holes in my siding.

[Rusty]

Ron,

Maybe that's why we so seldom see him; must be at least a 2-day round trip between Brookfield and Arlington Heights! :D

Rusty

[mommamiax3]

Nice job on this Rusty :) Sharp photos and your layout is great!


He's a red-bellied woodpecker for sure!

[annc]

Excellent shots and a really good layout.

[Wendy]

Rusty ...

Oh very nice !! :)

Wendy

[Lorri]

Nice job! The Red Bellied Woodpecker at our feeder has been too elusive for me to get a good shot of him! He's very chatty though and will let us know we've intruded on his space!

[kroberts]

Rusty,

Looks like a red-bellied woodpecker to me! I often wonder why it's not called a red-headed woodpecker instead??:confused:

Great shots!:) I see one every once-in-a-while at our suet feeder, but it never stays long enough to get a photo.

[Chuck S.]

I often wonder why it's not called a red-headed woodpecker instead??:confused:


Kim: Once you've seen a Red-Headed Woodpecker, you'll know why the one in the photographs doesn't get to be called that...!

:)

Chuck

[Cmcburnett]

Rusty, nice picture. The woodpeckers around my house drive me crazy. They get in our gutters at sunrise and peck away. Sounds like a jackhammer on the roof. I would never shoot them but have often wished they would go somewhere else when they wake me up at 5:00 in the morning. Very pretty birds.:o

[virgo1]

Rusty,
Nice Shots! These look smaller than this shot of a yellow bellied sapsucker hammering away at my neighbor's pine tree.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1dBHk0vcJOQt6HvmJszZK42RSLKAK_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1dBHk0vcJOQt6HvmJszZK42RSLKAK)

Eva;)

[Berengaria]

Rusty, I finally got a picture of a red-bellied woodpecker, too, after years of trying. I hear him around all year long but he is usually in the woods high up on a dead tree pecking away. Very elusive but I guess hunger drove him to the feeder and I was able to nab him. Not too good a picture but good enough for "my birds" book.

Berengaria

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Nyo1nUTOrwS8fktLdJ3wqyeISpYJ0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Nyo1nUTOrwS8fktLdJ3wqyeISpYJ0)

[Berengaria]

Kim:

I wondered about the red-belly, too. I read on the internet that they actually do have a little red on their bellies. Sounds like a mis-nomer to me. Why not Red Head and Belly Woodpecker?

Berengaria

[Rusty]

Thanks all,

Yes, I was happy to get the shots as my experience has been as all commented above: very elusive. S/he seems to zoom in, briefly hit the suet feeder, walk up the tree to clean beak... then zoom off. By the time I get the camera and outside -- gone.

Now, here's the real kicker. On every occasion when we saw the Red-bellied, it was always a single. Yesterday I finally got a picture. This morning my wife looked out the window and (excited), "Oh look, we have TWO red-belly woodpeckers today."

No chance to get the camera :)

Rusty

[Jancy]

They look great! Nice shooting
Jancy

[dsfisher421]

Great shots! I have not been able to get a decent shot of the one we having running around here. He has been driving a neighbor crazy.