There is just something about Woodpeckers . . . I blogged about the wonderful Pileated Woodpecker featured above a couple of months ago. Since that time, a variety of other Woodpeckers have caught my attention. There is a collection of stories about varied types of Woodpeckers on Bird Note, a great resource.
One of the most common Woodpeckers is our regular visitor in the two photos above, the Red-bellied Woodpecker. A fellow birder told me this little fellow above was a Hairy Woodpecker. But now, after listening to this episode on BirdNote, called Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, How to tell them apart, I think it was actually a Downy 😉
I recently spied this unique Woodpecker for the first time at the local preserve. Based on its color patterns, and the images in my field guides, my guess is that it’s a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. But it just isn’t as chubby as the ones on All About Birds – I’d be happy to be corrected if I’m wrong!
Beautiful, aren’t they? ☺
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Absolutely!
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Excellent photos of woodpeckers. Thank you for sharing the info, very interesting. I’m new to WordPress.com. How do I add your URL to my main page? My URL is fusingphotoswithwords.wordpress.com.
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Thanks so much for your kind comments. You can follow my blog and add a widget to your main page showing who you are following.
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Gorgeous shots. I too love woodpeckers and never tire of watching them. I think that the last one is in fact a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, though I am no expert and defer to others with more experience to confirm your identification.
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Thanks, Mike – and thanks for weighing in on the ID!
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Don’t you love their special and handsome look? I especially like how they sneak around the trunk to seemingly avoid the camera.
Thanks for the info on the woodpeckers as well.
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Yes, and I agree, they are so handsome!!
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Fantastic woodpecker photos here, BJ. Downy and Hairy woodpeckers are tricky to tell apart, but I have found it helpful that the hairy’s bill is just about as big as its head, and the downy’s bill is smaller than its head. Your take on the hairy/down is correct, it’s a downy. 😀
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Pretty cool info from Jet.
Sent from my iPhone
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I use that little downy/hairy guide every week — I hope it helps you, BJ. 😀
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I’ll remember that one ;-D
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Yes. . . !
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Thanks, Jet. That’s a great tip to remember!
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Beautiful photos of such a variety of woodpeckers. We get a lot of woodpeckers up here too. Noisy devils.
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You’re so right, Donna – they can be really noisy. But I love it when I can tell which woodpecker it is just from the sound of its drumming 😉
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very cool shots! we have 2-3 Downies who patronize the suet feeder, and two Northern Flickers who patronize the suet feeder, *and* make sure you know when they (the males) are drilling on the side of the house! 😛
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I have never seen a Flicker – how lucky you are! I confess that I never really appreciated birds back in the days when ‘someone’ used to drill in our house in New York.
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Great photos, BJ! Always nice to see birds we don’t have here in Europe. 😀
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So glad you enjoyed them!
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Great captures, this is an excellent field guide. No leaves and cooler temps winter is Woodpecker time in Arkansas…. I will keep a lookout for these beauties.
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Though their hammering gives most woodpeckers away, no leaves can be a real asset! Hope you see some 🙂
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A beautiful gallery of woodpeckers!
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Little by little I’m still beginning to recognize more and more woodpeckers…. A great part of the fun of birding is learning more all the time!
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