Red-bellied Woodpecker - Diligent Dad

Sometimes I spot him as early as 6:30 AM if I'm lucky.

But Mr. Red-belly can be seen at various times throughout the day, diligently gathering food for his hungry offspring.

Such a hard worker! He carries a sunflower seed from the feeder over to the nearby sugar maple and cracks it open.

At first I thought he was gathering his own breakfast until one morning I spotted....

...this little fellow peeking over the branch,

 

....waiting for Daddy to bring another seed.

Ah, here he comes. Hurry Dad, I'm starved!

I wonder how many tiny morsels it takes to fill that little tummy.

How about some suet?

Oh, yes please!

And back he goes for more.

What's taking so long?

Sometimes Dad has to argue with the sparrows about whose turn it is. They're feeding babies too, you know!

But can't you see I'm hungrier than they are?

(Notice he doesn't yet have a red head? There's only a faint smudge of red on July 26th).

Overworked and underpaid, don't you know?

I work my beak off, and what do I get? Squawk, squawk, more, more!

Doesn't this child ever sleep? Why can't his mother do this?

(see, there is a little red on his belly...not much, but it's there).

But Mommy is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she's on duty elsewhere.

(This photo is from '09).

I did see this female on the maple trunk back in the middle of May, but haven't noticed one since.

Notice the difference in the coloring on the female's head? She has a gap in the red while Daddy's head color goes all the way to his beak.

Red-bellies are often misnamed red-headed woodpeckers for obvious reasons, but you can see what a red-head looks like here at Cornell Lab of Ornithology's great site, All About Birds.

Last time I saw the youngster was August 4th. He came by himself, or at least he appeared to be alone. Daddy was nowhere in sight. See how the red has come in on his head in just over a week?

I didn't see him eat anything before he flew into the maple tree, but it looks like he's becoming more independant, getting out on his own. I'll bet Dad is happy about that!
I hope we're lucky enough to see the little guy feeding a baby of his own next year.

Busy Woodpecker Parents!

In the middle of June a pair of our resident Hairy Woodpeckers began bringing their offspring to the suet cage for a feed, and we had the privilege of witnessing this sweet example of parental care.

Both parents took turns feeding the baby (that's Mom in photo above), ......

....and while Mom seemed quite calm and efficient, (baby is below her)....

......Dad always appeared to be rather frazzled (that's him on the left).
Perhaps he's a first-time father.

Notice that the baby (Dad is reaching down to her) is as large as her parents.

Dad collects some suet.....

While baby waits anxiously below.

If you click to enlarge you'll see that he appears to always have a worried expression on his face :) Due to our frequently rainy weather, he also often looked damp and bedraggled.

Please hurry Daddy!

That's quite a mouth to feed!

More please, Daddy!

Here, she waits on the porch post on a foggy morning....

......but then decides to hurry the process along!

Sometimes the smaller Downy Woodpeckers would try for a turn at the suet. Dad was hanging underneath when this fella landed. He hopped up quickly and scared the wits out of the poor little guy.

Speaking of wet birds....here's the Red Bellied male woodpecker on a rainy afternoon.

And looking sleek and handsome on a sunny day.

It's not often that you can see the red belly for which he's named, but it shows well in this photo

Here's the little lady Red Belly. If they're a pair with a baby, we haven't seen it. The Red bellies are shyer than the Hairies and Downies. They fill their beaks and head for the hedgerow across the road.

All the woodies like sunflower seed too.

Notice how the red on the female's head doesn't go all the way to the beak, but has a gap.

Meanwhile the Hairies continue madly trying to fill up "Baby". They could often be seen hopping about with the little one in tow. The parent had just disappeared behind the tree branch, so I'm assuming that's the little one on the fence.

Remember, this was June, and the Foxgloves were still blooming.

Those Daylilies on either side of them are stealing the show now, along with the Gloriosa Daisies (Black-eyed Susans/Rudbeckia hirta), Bee Balm (Monarda) and Shasta Daisies, among others. I've been busy with the camera, so stay tuned for the lily parade......

I hope you too are enjoying the delights that nature provides for us on these summer days.