After I photographed the Ruby-throated Hummingbird I shared yesterday, I focused on a hatch year Red-bellied Woodpecker with some kind of prey in their bill.
Hatch year Red-bellied Woodpecker – Canon R7, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 1250, -0.7 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light
I can’t tell if the prey the young Red-bellied Woodpecker had was an ant, a spider, or a spider that mimics ants.
What I do know is that I was excited to have this woodpecker in my viewfinder. Now that the Eastern Bluebird chick has fledged, the adult bluebirds aren’t chasing away this species of woodpecker, jays, or other birds that get close to the nest box they nested in anymore.
This hatch-year Red-bellied Woodpecker was a distance from the nest box. It was neat to see the young bird foraging on the ground.
Regarding this immature woodpecker’s gender, I believe he is a male. The fresh red feathers on the top of his head wouldn’t be there if this bird were a female.
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I appreciate being corrected because that is how I learn.
I hope to see this young woodpecker again. For the few minutes I watched him foraging on the ground, he fascinated me. He actually reminded me of watching Northern Flickers as they foraged for ants on the ground in my garden in Virginia.
I didn’t see this Red-bellied Woodpecker yesterday, but who knows—maybe I will see him sometime this morning!
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-bellied Woodpecker photos plus facts and information about this species.
I am so loving the seeing the birds you share we don’t have here in the west!
I appreciate both the photos you share and the learnings I get – despite knowing that I will never see these birds for myself.