Mystery Bird: Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus

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[Mystery birds] Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, photographed at the Katy Prairie, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 March 2009 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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Ooh, one of my most favorite birds... Red-Bellied Woodpecker. Scarlet nape and crown, black-and-white barred back. Looks like a female, with the incomplete scarpet on the forehead. The "red belly" is sometimes only a wash of orange and is often not visible in the field. We have 2 (perhaps 3) families of red-bellies -- adults with fledglings -- visiting our suet and seed feeders every day lately. They are bold and beautiful and we enjoy them all year 'round. (Connecticut, USA) Thank you for this lovely photo.

I agree with Sarah on the ID, but I think that's a male. Females don't have red on the top of their heads at all-just on the back.

I think it's a male red-bellied woodpecker, because of the scarlet on the head extending down the nape almost to the bird's back.

By ground petrel (not verified) on 17 Jul 2009 #permalink