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Topic Categories: Birding • Education • Mystery Birds • Ornithology • Photography • Teaching
Posted on: July 17, 2009 9:59 AM, by "GrrlScientist"
tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[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.
Life Science
Education
Comments
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.
Posted by: Sarah | July 17, 2009 12:54 PM
SCARLET, not scarpet! Well, "scarpet" actually sounds rather cool.
Posted by: Sarah | July 17, 2009 12:59 PM
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.
Posted by: Kyllikki | July 17, 2009 1:13 PM
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.
Posted by: ground petrel | July 17, 2009 3:25 PM
Yup, definitely a make Red-bellied. Here's a decent example of the female (halfway down the post), with the red only extending up to the back or middle of the head.
A very nice shot of the RBWO, by the way!
Posted by: Kyle | July 17, 2009 4:00 PM
Beautiful woodpecker, the Red-bellied is! Starlings drive them out of a cavity in my neighbor's yard every spring, but they seem to find a place to nest, since they come to my birdfeeder and eat suet. Visit my CREATE A WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY YARD site at http://wildlifefriendlylawn.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Robert | July 21, 2009 7:27 PM