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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Peeping Red-Bellied Woodpecker

It's been a busy time for me lately. The good thing is that part of that time has been taken up watching animals and other related things. I told you a short while back that I saw the red-bellied woodpecker I was watching fly into its hole. Well, this time I have something even better!

Yup, that's him poking his head out! he seems to be clearing his nest out. And yes I say he. I believe it is a male because of the amount of red color on the top of his head. Females have red too, but they don't have as much toward the front.

For red-bellied woodpeckers, both males and females tend the nests. So there is a maybe female too, but for now we have a male. Maybe this male makes so much noise because he is trying to attract a female with his fancy new home. He makes a lot of noise, but I haven't been able to capture that yet.

I didn't even know I was getting some of these pictures of him until I got home! I was just blindly clicking away when I got them! That shows how active this little guy has been up there. Others were completely known to me though.

And now I have a brand new episode of Rat TV for you! It's not the best video ever made though, because none of mine ever are, but it shows this little woodpecker doing what he likes to do best. The beginning shows him spitting debris out of the nest. Much of the background sound is a large group of nearby frogs.

This piece of bark he is clinging to is actually not even attached to the tree where he is. It's attached somewhere below. In the video you can slightly see it swaying in the breeze. I wondered at the time why he wasn't pecking. He was just clinging there.

So there you have it! I think they call these birds red-bellied woodpeckers because red-headed is already taken. Their bellies can look a little pink at times, but red is not what I'd call them.

As I said above, I've been very busy. I just wrote the last episode of my fictional story of the boy and the demon over at my Rat Tales blog. I think this last episode is probably the best thing I've ever written so far. The story is best read from start to finish, but there is no harm reading any episode you want. The whole short story is really the longest single story I've ever written. I'm working my way up to my epic masterpiece about some mischievous squirrels. ;)

I'll be back soon with hopefully more time.


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20 comments:

  1. oh, I so love your images, I have several woodpecker images that I captured that I was excited about, but nothing liek yours where they are inside that wood cave(hole) nesting. Awesome.

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  2. He is just beautiful, Ratty, and the hole he made is perfectly round. Have a Happy Easter!

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  3. Their name was hard for me, perhaps it was the red head.

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  4. What a pretty bird. So he's doing a little spring cleaning in hopes of attracting a young lady to his new pad...lol

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  5. @Betchai
    These pictures are only due to a whole lot of luck and a little waiting.
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    @Icy BC
    He was pretty good at cutting out that hole, wasn't he? You have a Happy Easter too.
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    @Out on the prairie
    I have the same problem.
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    @Ann
    It's standard operation for many birds, and many mammals too.

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  6. Really nice picture of the top of his head. We have them here, but I used to see lots more of them in A2

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  7. Very cool photos and video! My human thinks that maybe he is dressing up his pad to impress a girl woodpecker.

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  8. Great video Ratty! And the photos are awesome! It's going to be exciting if you get to see babies come out of there one of these days!!

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  9. Great photos and video! I love all kinds of woodpeckers! have you tried to publish your books? I've always wanted to write and publish a book...
    ~Lynn

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  10. Ratty, What super cool pics and video of the Red-belled Woodpecker in action. I have hunted for their nesting site and failed. Thumps-up for your great find. Happy Earth Day!

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  11. These are GREAT pics of the woodpecker caught in the act of doing what they do! Cool!

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  12. You did really well to catch that little guy the way you did! What a pretty bird!

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  13. Maybe he didn't do the pecking because it looks good already.
    Isn't it a nice "round-door" to their "house"?

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  14. Thank you all for your comments. I'm running a bit behind right now, but I appreciate all your visits.

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  15. I can never capture a pic of a woodpecker. I'll chase them around from the ground, but they're so sneaky.

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  16. What a wonderful home it has, I'm always amazed at how round the hole is when perfectly round isn't easy to make.

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  17. Hey Ratty. Great post today. I loved the Rat TV vid! Those pictures are lovely and what a beautiful woodpecker! Hope you had a good Easter weekend.
    :)

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  18. Enjoyed watching the film. Do they always get the hole entrance so perfectly round?

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  19. Well,hopefully, this hard working woodpecker wll woo the damsel of his choice with the fancy abode he's made for his lady love! He really is quite handsome!

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  20. Thanks for your comments, everyone.

    @Don't unplug your hub
    I've heard they all get those round holes, but this is the first one I've seen in action. Oh, and the holes near it are all round like this too, so I think maybe they do. It's something I'll keep watching for.

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