Backyard Birds: Woodpeckers – The Digital Birder

I’m going to start a series on my blog for Backyard Birds with a journal full of related birds who are regular visitors or have shown up in my yard. My official yard list is 85 species – this includes 72 species who actually landed in my yard (feeders, trees, grass) with the rest seen flying over and a few who I’ve only heard from my yard. I’ll start with Woodpeckers and allies in the Picidae family.

For the longest time, I only had two regular species, the Downy and Hairy Woodpecker. I can get a few pairs at a time on a good day!

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

These two often lead to identification problems since they basically look the same to the untrained eye, and have subtle size differences. They visit so often that I was actually able to get some photos of them in the same frame for better comparison.

A comparison of a Hairy and Downy Woodpecker

I’ve had Red-bellied Woodpeckers show up from time-to-time, but not enough to call them regulars until this past fall. Though, something weird happened – for a couple of weeks, I only had a female visiting.

Red-bellied Woodpecker female

Then suddenly a male showed up and the female disappeared. I have not seen her since, but I do see him pretty much every day now. The change happened in a couple of days, so it was not molting changes! I wonder what happened?

Red-bellied Woodpecker male

I also had Northern Flickers show up around my yard – in the trees or on the ground looking for ants, but I never had one on my feeders. And I am still waiting to get a great shot of them!

Northern Flicker

Also, during migration, I tend to get Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers passing by. They tend to stick around the trees that border the woods, so I lack a good backyard photo. I guess the trees around my yard are not sappy enough for them, even though it seems to pour out of a few in the fall.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

And last, but far from being least, is the most desired Woodpecker in my area. I often hear Pileated Woodpeckers and see them in my woods. And then one day I caught this male on my feeders! Even though I see them all the time, this was a one-time occurrence. Though, I do not leave suet in that same cage feeder anymore (I now have all suet hanging near my deck, out of the sun)

This Pileated Woodpecker found my feeder!

I have yet to have a Red-headed Woodpecker visit and have only seen them twice – once was in my county! They are a bit rare for my area, but I am hoping for my yard to attract one some day soon!

In the summer, I am graced with the young ones from my Downy and Hairy couples – and hopefully this summer my Red-bellied will find a mate and also bring his young. They tend to feed right under my deck – in the safety of cover. It is quite a treat to see!