northeast-flora-and-fauna

I've talked about Red-bellied Woodpeckers before ( people thinking they're Red-headed Woodpeckers and housing disputes with European Starlings ), so today I'm going to show different views of the same individual. This 1st view might give a person the impression that the entire head is red, perhaps leading them to believe this is a Red-headed Woodpecker. February 10, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 263680633, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) This same individual seen from below and from the side looks quite a bit different; the red head feathers could be missed entirely. February 10, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 263680618, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) And as birds that spend time foraging on tree branches, they'll sometimes be in awkward (from a human perspective) position while searching for food. February 10, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 263680623, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-...

Here's a partially hidden Red-bellied Woodpecker . (Just because it has red on the head and difficult-to-see red on the belly, it doesn't make this a Red-headed Woodpecker .) Although woodpeckers are built for pecking on trees in search of invertebrates to eat, this picture probably shows one taking advantage of the berries in this tree. Though most birds love eating insects and spiders, even ones considered to be insectivores will eat nuts, acorns, seeds, and even fruits. And of course, if there happens to be an insect on that fruit too, so much the better. November 5, 2021 at the Delaware Raritan Canal Photo 169043446, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Red-bellied Woodpecker I met last March. These guys don't seem to be migrators; my field guide says their range is the same in summer and winter. I suspect this means there are still insects to be found in trees all year round, even if they're not necessarily active in winter. As the most common woodpecker in my area with a red head, a fair number of people refer to them as Red-headed Woodpeckers, but that's a different species entirely (and one with an even redder head). Despite looking quite different, the Red-headed Woodpecker is the closest NJ relative to the Red-bellied Woodpecker; they're both in the same genus (Melanerpes). I mentioned recently that the European Starling isn't a terribly popular bird. One reason is that they'll attack native birds like the Red-bellied Woodpecker in order to take over tree cavities that the woodpeckers created since both species are cavity nesters. The starlings are a little bigger bird, but their success a...