Woodpeckers

Family: Picadae

Woodpeckers have strong bills for drilling and drumming on trees and long sticky tongues for extracting food. All woodpeckers nest in cavities. Some species supplement their diets with birds eggs, small mammals, fruits and some suck sap.

In North America the smallest woodpecker is the Downy Woodpecker and the largest is the Pileated Woodpecker. Most woodpecker species are primary cavity nesters that excavate their own nests and their old nests are often used by other birds and small mammals. Most woodpeckers live near forests or woodland habitats but a few live in deserts and rocky hillsides.

The Demise of the Magical Sapsucker Tree and the Luck of Finding More Nesting Cavity Trees

By |June 14th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Clark County, House Wrens, Idaho, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Targhee National Forest|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I am heart-broken about losing the Magical Sapsucker Tree but I am glad to have found a few more where the chicks are thriving and are safe so far.

Northern Flicker Letting The Chips Fall Where They May

By |May 5th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Clark County, Idaho, Northern Flickers, Targhee National Forest|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I could hear the Northern Flicker excavating inside the nesting cavity and when he would stop he would appear with a bill full of shavings and forcefully eject them from the cavity.

At the Magical Sapsucker Tree Once Again

By |May 3rd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Clark County, Idaho, Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Targhee National Forest, Williamson's Sapsuckers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday may have started off dreary but it sure got lively with a Willamson's Sapsucker, Mountain Chickadee and a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches at the Magical Sapsucker Tree!

Red-naped Sapsuckers of Clark County, Idaho

By |July 6th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Clark County, Idaho, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Targhee National Forest|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It was a Sapsuckery trip to Montana and Idaho last week, with Red-naped and Williamson's Sapsuckers at their nesting cavities

The Magical Sapsucker Tree in Clark County, Idaho

By |July 4th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Clark County, House Wrens, Idaho, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Targhee National Forest, Tree Swallows, Williamson's Sapsuckers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A month ago I photographed a pair of Williamson's Sapsuckers excavating a nesting cavity in Idaho and this past week I spent several days photographing them again.

Wonderful Lifers – Williamson’s Sapsuckers at their nesting tree

By |June 1st, 2014|Categories: Birds, Clark County, Idaho, Williamson's Sapsuckers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I could barely contain myself because in my viewfinder was a gorgeous red, yellow and black colored male Williamson's Sapsucker.

Juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker in Summit County

By |February 10th, 2014|Categories: Ashley National Forest, Birds, High Uintas, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Summit County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The bad weather here has given me cabin fever so last night I looked through my archives and enjoyed some images from brighter, warmer days and came across this juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker image from my first camping trip to Utah's high Uintas in Summit County.

The Amazing Legacy of the Bluebird Man

By |July 13th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Capitol Reef National Park, Centennial Valley, Conservation, Downy Woodpeckers, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tree Swallows, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I want to thank Neil Paprocki for sharing information about Al Larson and the upcoming film The Bluebird Man, I have learned a lot from the web site and through my interview with Neil and I am all for learning more about the wonderful natural world around me.

Male Northern Flicker in its nesting cavity

By |June 20th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Madison County, Montana, Northern Flickers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was photographing some Pine Siskins along a road in Madison County, Montana when this male Red-shafted Northern Flicker stuck his head out of his nesting cavity in an aspen and surprised me.

Juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker in the high Uintas

By |March 1st, 2013|Categories: Ashley National Forest, Birds, High Uintas, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Summit County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker image was taken on my first camping trip in the high Uintas in Summit County, Utah not far from Christmas Meadows.

Colorful Capitol Reef National Park

By |September 9th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Capitol Reef National Park, Downy Woodpeckers, Mule Deer, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The geological features of Capitol Reef National Park are amazing. About 75 miles of the 100 mile long monocline known as the Waterpocket Fold are within the park's boundaries extending from Lake Powell north to the Thousand Lake Plateau.

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