woodpeckers

Wheezer's Notes: Woodpeckers can be attracted to suet or our peanutbutter concoction, or to a peanut feeder. The two most common types to be seen in your backyard are the redbellied and the redheaded woodpecker. These two are sometimes confused since the redbellied actually has a swatch of red on his head too! The male redbellied, however, has a touch of red on his underside that the redheaded does not. We don't have any photos of redheaded woodpeckers because they don't come to feeders. The redheaded woodpecker is more flashy colorful with prominent white parts on wings and belly.

The female redbellied is distuinguished from the male by the red swatch on the head. In the male redbellied, the red extends entirely over the top of the head. In the female the top of the head is not red. Photos of the female at below clearly show this discontinuity in red on the head.

The juvenile redbellied has no red on its head at all.

The red bellied woodpecker is often confused with the Norther Flicker. The Norther Flicker, or just Flicker Woodpecker, is the State bird of Alabama, though they called it a Yellowhammer when it was first designated in 1927. What is now known as a yellowhammer is an altogether different bird in the bunting family. Alabama is the the only state that recognizes a woodpecker as their state bird.

Range: Current red-bellied woodpecker range information is at USGS Patuxent Bird Identification Center

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