Today I am sharing a Red-headed Woodpecker with a mayfly in its bill that I took yesterday at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.
Red-bellied Woodpecker adult with a mayfly – Canon R7, f11, 1/1000, ISO 1000, +0.7 EV, Canon RF 800 mm, natural light
Today is also Father’s Day so you might be wondering why I chose to share a Red-headed Woodpecker on such a special day.
Well, the short answer is this – all male woodpeckers in North America, no matter thier size or coloration, are great dads. Some help incubate, some don’t, but all of them help rear their young.
Back to this Red-headed Woodpecker…
Yesterday Steve let me use his 800mm lens attached to his Canon R7 and I was blown away by the images that combination created.
One of the first birds I had in my viewfinder after the lens swap was this woodpecker. I was tickled by seeing and photographing this species since my only images of them until yesterday were purely documentary.
I don’t know whether this is an adult male or female. Red-headed Woodpeckers are monomorphic which means both sexes look exactly alike.
It was a thrill for me to take many images of this handsome black, white, and red woodpecker and it seemed important to me to share this photo today
Life is good. Happy Father’s Day!
Mia
Check back later for my Red-Headed Woodpecker photo gallery in Woodpeckers.
Glorious colors; wonderful detail, and a healthy breakfast. What could be better on Father’s Day? Thanks Mia.
So good to see such a fine image of red-headed woodpecker! Been years since I’ve seen one in our habitat. What a looker! Nice to know they’re good dads too.
Great feathers in the morning! I did not know that about male woodies.
Beautiful photo. We had one spotted at the International Center recently. One of my FB photo contacts shoots all his birds with the Canon R5, 800mm combo. He loves it and his photos are sharp. He keeps telling me to get one since they are only about $1,000. Again it’s good to see you out enjoying the sights and photographing!
Hooray for great fathers – whatever their species, and for great photography.