woody trees

Walking in the wild woods today, I checked on the woodpeckers' favorite trees.  Some of the excavations look fresh.  Woodpeckers in Minnesota do get started in late winter to build their nests.

water for birds

A pair of Red-Bellied Woodpeckers Melanerpes carolinus occasionally come out of the woods to eat suet and drink at the water bowl.  The female has less red on her head than this male, but the female has more red feathers apparent on her belly.

January woodpecker

This female Hairy Woodpecker is finding insects or larvae in the folds of bark on the elm tree.  She can probe into the crevices with her long bill, and her strong tail helps her balance against the force of her pecking.

cold morning comfort

This morning was cold again,

with snow flurries swirling on light breezes.

Two Red-bellied Woodpeckers
Melanerpes carolinus,

one male and one female,

live in the wild woods.
They come to the suet blocks at the

feeder station to load up on fat

and supplement their diet of insects

gleaned from between the crevices of tree bark.

 

Today, the male rested a while

with his head tucked down

among the feathers on his shoulders.

All we could see of his head was

a small red circle.

 

Then, he popped his beak out

and took a look around,

making sure all was safe

for a few more minutes of cozy rest.

 

down underwear

When it gets cold near zero F, birds fluff their feathers out to hold their body heat among the down beneath their larger feathers.  This little Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens was seeking insects along the bark on the Boxelder tree, but paused to rearrange his downy underwear for maximum heat retention.

woodpeckers in the wild woods

Today, the female Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus came to the suet feeder.  She has a smaller red cap than the male, a thinner black eyeline, and lacks the red malar stripe he shows along his cheeks.
This woodpecker nibbled for a few minutes, enjoying the suet.  When a chunk broke off and she leaned back, it was impaled on the tip of her lower beak.  Unable to eat it while the suet was stuck on her beak, she flew to a nearby tree and perched about four feet up on the trunk.  Wiping her beak back and forth, she finally dislodged the suet; it fell into the leaf litter below.  She hopped backwards down the trunk to the ground, and shuffled in the leaves until she found her treasure.

October birds

We are getting ready for FeederWatch, the citizen-science project online for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  The “guild” of winter birds is forming in the woods, and the most noticeable visitor this week is the male Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus.  His red cap is continuous from his beak to its pointed tip, and he has a bit of red in his malar stripes on each side of his face.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been at our feeders all winter.  Still nearby in the woods, we hear them calling to one another.  Today the male was making noise as he hopped around hunting insects in the gutters.

the winter guild

Among the birds in the wild woods this winter is the Northern Flicker. This one spent quite a while today seeking insects under the tree bark. Since the sun was shining on his tree, he took a break with feathers fluffed up, then demonstrated how far his neck could reach around back . . .

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Of the 4 types of woodpeckers in our woods, the Red-bellied like peanuts the best. The female enjoyed feeding at the tray earlier this autumn, and the male ventured close this week although he stayed among the trees. She looked more sleek with her feathers unruffled; with his feathers fluffed up for warmth he looks very much larger than he is.

nesting downy woodpeckers

The "woodpecker" tree, on the south edge of the wild woods, is home to a pair of downy woodpeckers and their young. No clue yet to the number of hatchlings inside, but both adults are busy each day carrying worms and bugs to them. These may be the same downies we saw all winter as we surveyed for FeederWatch http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw

woodpecker tree

Even though this tree lost branches in the past, its remains still stand as an attraction for the four varieties of Woodpeckers that live in our woods.

Woodpeckers on suet

As the days get longer, some of the birds that were gregarious cooperative participants in the local "guild" of birds all winter are showing up at the feeders in pairs. Unlike in the very cold weather when they had to help each other find food and keep warm, now they are beginning to define territories.
The Downy woodpecker pair (above) and the larger Hairy woodpecker (below) will probably select their nest sites in the next three or four weeks. Meanwhile, they appreciate the suet feeders.

pileated woodpeckers

A pair of pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) live in our wild woods. They are very secretive so we have not located their nest or roost hole. Over the last few weeks we've seen them at the suet blocks every few days. Nearly 18 inches long, the male is big enough to tilt the "barn" feeder as he hangs on it. This afternoon, as the wind chills dipped, the female hung on a big tree and fluffed up her feathers to stay warm.

Flicker

We've seen a single Northern Flicker several times recently at the suet block and scavenging along tree bark in our wild woods.

the winter "guild"

The birds are gathering into their winter "guild". Several of the woodpeckers are back again -- the Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens, the Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus, Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus, and the big Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus. This Red-bellied Woodpecker helped himself to sunflower and safflower seeds.

woodpecker - morning seeds

The female Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus was at the feeder this morning. She is among the guild of woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, juncos, finches, and bluejays that hang out in the wild woods.