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Red Bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus
35.7755, -87.4616
Field Notes
Description:
The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a medium sized woodpecker, with a red head (on the male the red cap goes from the beak to the nape, on females there is a red spot right above the beak, and a red patch on the nape, but the top of her head is gray), black and white barred patterns on its back, the face and underparts are mostly light gray, and has a reddish tinge on the belly (hence the name) that is difficult often difficult to see in field identification.
Habitat:
Eastern woodlands and forests, and they venture from forests to backyard feeders.
Notes:
The main photo here shows this male Red-bellied woodpecker's tongue that is used to grab bugs from trees. Here he is using it to grab seeds from the feeder. The second photo shows a female with a rare sighting of the red belly as she flips over on the post to consider eating from the suet hanging nearby. The third picture shows the female with the "bald man" head pattern (which is the way I think of it). The 4th picture shows a male opening up a woodpecker that he had carefully set in the tree branch. The 5th shows a red bellied female from the side eating suet.
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