BACKYARD
WOODPECKERS
Woodpeckers are some of the most interesting
and faithful birds that come to our feeders.
 The Downy Woodpecker is barely six inches tall. He is a study in
black and white. His wings are black with white checks. His breast and under belly are
white. The male has a red spot on the back of his head. When he is not hammering holes in
trees to extract insect larvae, he will visit your feeder feasting on suet, nuts, and
sunflower seeds. His visits are almost as regular as those of the Chickadees.
 If you elongate the bill of the Downy and increase his size to
nine inches you will have created the Hairy Woodpecker. His feeder likes are also similar
to the Downy but he prefers to have his meals segregated from the crowds. Feeders removed
from activity are his preference. Neither of these birds are nest box birds but instead
prefer to find holes in dead trees which they fill with wood chips.
The Red-Headed Woodpecker was once the most
common woodpecker in the Northeast but now is seldom seen either at the feeders or in the
woods. The drastic decrease in his numbers in the past hundred years has been caused by
the increase in Starlings and the advent of the car. Red-Heads are low flyers and large
numbers have been killed while flying across country roads. While many people confuse the
names of the Red-Head and Red-Belly few would confuse their appearance. The Red-Headed
Woodpecker's head is entirely red, front and back, down to his shoulders. His wings are
black on the top half and white on the bottom half. His chest is entirely white. He only
ventures out to feeders when he is desperate for food. Then he prefers sunflower seeds,
raisins and suet.
 When people tell me that they have a Red-Headed Woodpecker
regularly visiting their feeder; they usually mean a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. The Red-Belly
has expanded its range northward until now it is our most common woodpecker. Red-Bellied
Woodpeckers are named for the wash of red on their abdomens. The male has a wide red
stripe on his head, starting at his bill and continuing to the base of his neck. The
female has a red dot above her bill and a stripe starting at the top of her head and
running to the nape of her neck. Their wings and tails are brilliantly checked black and
white. The balance of their heads and chests are white. While at the feeder he appreciates
suet cakes, sunflower seeds, raisins, nuts as well as pieces of apple or orange. All
woodpeckers have weak feet and use their tails as a third foot. Big suet feeders are more
comfortable for large birds as there is room for tail-propping. Log suet feeders are among
their favorites. Both the Red-Belly and the Flicker probe for bugs in the bark of trees
instead of drilling holes seeking wood boring insects like the Downy and Hairy
Woodpeckers. The Red-Belly makes his nest in living or dying trees. He enlarges existing
holes and lines them with wood chips.
The Northern or Yellow Shafted Flicker is
one of our most fantastically marked birds. Flickers are tan with black spots. Their
breasts are white with black dots. The male's head is gray with a red mark on his nape and
a black mustache. The female is similar to the male but without the red spot and mustache.
Both have a distinctive crescent shaped black mark on their chest. They are so colorfully
marked that they appear to be wearing clown suits. These birds are easy to recognize in
flight by their white rump and flash of yellow under their wings. Flickers are most often
seen on the lawn, eating ants. Their feeder preferences and nesting habits are the same as
the Red-Bellied.
Summer is a great time to attract a variety
of woodpeckers. If you provide Suet feeders filled with hard suet cakes you will soon be
treated to Woodpecker parents and babies regularly visiting these feeders. |
