Red-bellied Woodpecker

[Nymph]

This female is the queen of the suit feeder. She will come in and all the other woodpeckers will sit in the tree to wait till she is done.

[DonBo]

They are a beautiful bird. The ones that come to my feeder are much more shy than this one seems to be.

Why are the called "Red Bellied"?

[Steve Foss]

Probably because "red headed" woodpecker was already taken. They also often have a subtle wash of rust coloring along the belly.

[Jim Almquist]

Good looking bird Nymph.

[Birdsong]

Uh-oh. I better get out the bird book--guess I can't tell the male from the female. Never thought about it. Now you have me curious. Everyone else does seem to scatter when they come, don't they? I have one trying to eat thistle and chips from a tube feeder. Hard on those little holes. Thanks for posting these.

[Birdsong]

This guy looks as though he is singing the blues, Nymph. Maybe he could use a visit with the 'little lady' who is queen of your feeders.

[Nymph]

There ya go. Thats a nice looking male.

[JayinMN]

Thats one bird we don't see up here. Nice images.

[Nymph]

In your photo he looks to be wearing safety shields. That got me thinking about nictitating membranes. I never really thought about it much but some birds have them. Not quite sure if that is what I am seeing there or not in the picture. Interesting.

This is a quote I found.

Woodpeckers tighten their nictitating membrane a millisecond prior to their beak impacting the trunk of a tree in order to prevent their eyes from leaving their sockets.

[Birdsong]

This is a quote I found.

Woodpeckers tighten their nictitating membrane a millisecond prior to their beak impacting the trunk of a tree in order to prevent their eyes from leaving their sockets.

Yikes! That sounds painful. Thanks for the research. That's interesting. I was disappointed that his eye was closed. However, since the background is really busy and distracting anyway, it was kind of fun to get a glimpse of more bird behavior.

[MN Shutterbug]

However, since the background is really busy and distracting anyway, it was kind of fun to get a glimpse of more bird behavior.

Better the background than the foreground.

[Jiggawhat]

Sweet pics

[micpic]

Eureka! Now I can say I learned something today. That's very interesting. Thanks

Mic