Litte Red-Head

Yesterday I got a few more shots of the little juvenile Red-Headed Woodpecker. He is looking a little rough around the edges for sure. I suppose it is due to the fact he is in transition between a juvenile and an adult. The Red-Bellied and the juvenile were not happy with each other. They are definitely trying to determine who is going to get the rights on the tree. Check out the first pictures of the juvenile early on last summer, here and here.


I hope everyone had a great start to the New Year! God Bless.

Happy New Year!!

I got this great shot of the male Red-Bellied Woodpecker this morning. I finally got him sitting just right to get the red streak on his belly. He was fighting again with the juvenile Red-Head Woodpecker!

I'll be posting some shots of the Red-Head later. He is definitely changing colors. I'm off to watch the Hogs. Go Razorbacks!

God Bless!

I Got The Reds for Christmas!

I had a great day of birding which happened out of luck. I had to repair a flat on a tire and was outside on the driveway when a chatter arose above my head. It was a male Red-Bellied Woodpecker and the juvenile Red-Headed Woodpecker. They were not playing nice, to say the least. I was excited about this as I've never seen a male Red-Bellied in my yard, only the female. The juvenile Red-Head is also one of my favorites as I seen it grow up over the six months.


If you look closely, you can seen the Red-Head is beginning to lose it's juvenile plumage and starting to look more like an adult. Compare its plumage to one of these early posts which shows it distinct juvenile plumage.

This male probably has been around my yard but this is the first time I've ever seen it. With the little spat going on over the tree, he didn't realize I was even around, snapping these shots. In the first pic, I got a good shot of his belly, where the red is hidden and where he gets his name from. Look close, you can see the hint of red!

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

He's Back!

I've been watching closely to make sure my little friend is still around and doing fine. I was pretty sure I caught a glimpse of him last week but I finally got a pic of him today. He is doing all of the things that the other adults are doing. He is now working on a nest up in the top of an oak tree in my front yard.

It is very interesting to see the juvenile grow up over the last few months to essentially being grown so quickly. They just grow up so fast!

Still Alive! Juvenile Red-Headed Woodpecker & Me!

I know it has been a while since my last post. The birding has been very slow around here lately. I guess the birds are moving. Food sources are more abundant now probably also.

I was looking through my pictures from several weeks back and I ran across these pictures of my favorite bird this year. He finally learned how to land in the tray feeder and get a few seeds.

I've not have the opportunity to get any pictures of the juvenile Red-Headed Woodpecker lately. I was worried that he was gone for good know that he is grown.

But, good news! He is still around and flying high up in the tree tops with the other adults!

Also, I topped 500 hits last week! Woo hoo! I appreciate everyone checking in on my little birding blog. Thanks!

Juvenile Red-Headed Woodpeckers!

I've been watching a Red-Headed Woodpecker and two juveniles in my backyard. The adult is attempting to train these two juveniles by flying to the tray feeder to feed. When they won't follow to the feeder, the adult take care of the juveniles by feeding them.

These juvenile woodpeckers are strikingly different than the adults. They have a grayish-brown head with whitish gray underparts. Their wings are marked with two distinct black lateral bars. These pictures of the juveniles were able to capture the differences in plummage between the adults and the juveniles.

The picture with the juvenile perched on the rooftop was taken while the two where playing. They were chasing each other around the backyard, flying around very quickly. This one is looking around for his sibling. Shortly after taking this shot, the other one flew over the edge to surprise this one. It is very fun to watch these two juveniles learn and play just like kids!