Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Red Bellied Woodpecker

This Cabbage Palm is one of the favorites for the Woodpeckers. I guess there a a lot of bugs hanging out here. When the big fronds die they break off …leaving short pieces on the tree that catch debris and make a good home for bugs.  They eventually break and fall off, leaving the tree trunk smoother.031cs 049cs

I keep thinking I am naming this bird wrong…but it is zebra-backed with the red covering the head and nape of the neck, and that is the books description. This is a male. The females have red on the neck but not on the top of it’s head.

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I love watching Woodpeckers work for their dinner.

9 comments:

  1. Great pictures and video! That's a pretty bird and I love the rough bark on the palm. Those are sights I never see. Thanks for posting.

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  2. You have it exactly right, Diane! I love seeing them in our backyard. We'e been having them and a Northern Flicker visiting the past week or so. The flickers make camp in the platform feeders and clean them out!

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  3. Great pictures and post. Woodpeckers are always fun to watch and to photograph. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. We have those kind of Woodpeckers here. You may not have noticed but they do have a rosy tint low on their belly. I love to watch them going around a tree pecking to knock out bugs. Helen

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  5. Good shots of the WP. The video is pretty cool, too. The Palm is neat. Have never seen a Red-bellied WP, nor a Palm Tree!

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  6. It seems so strange to see a woodpecker on a palm tree. I'm so used to seeing them here on big evergreen trees and I guess that's what I figured they mostly ate from. That is really a pretty variety, I love the stripes and red coloring.

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  7. Beautiful shots! The palm tree makes for such a lovely background.

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  8. Carol, come by my blog. I've got an award for you.

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