 |
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER AT A GLANCE Remember to feed the
birds this winter. And once you start feeding them, please don't stop because they depend
on your generosity. The best feeder foods are sunflower, niger, safflower, millet, cracked
corn and suet. In the winter, birds also need fresh water. When temperatures drop below
freezing, use a bird bath heater, which is sold at wildlife stores or garden centers, or
remove the ice in the morning and refill with water daily.
NAME: Red-bellied woodpecker or Melanerpes carolinus
FAMILY: Picidae, woodpeckers
DESCRIPTION: About 10 inches or robin-sized. Black and white above, pale buff below.
Sexes same except male has red crown and nape while female has red nape only. Red patch on
lower abdomen hard to see.
VOICE: Chuck-chuck-chuck; also often a churrrr.
HABITAT: Open and swamp woodland; also likes oak, pine and mixed coniferous-deciduous
woods. Nests in dead or dying maples, pines, willows and elms but sometimes uses manmade
birdhouses with 4-by-4-inch floor, 12- to 15-inch depth, 2-inch entrance hole that's 12
inches above the floor and placed 12-20 feet off the ground.
RANGE: Usually nonmigratory resident in southeast.
FOOD: Really likes wild fruits but also favors wood-boring beetles, grasshoppers, ants
and other insects, along with acorns, beechnuts and hickory nuts. Frequents wintertime
feeders with suet, mixtures with peanut butter, nutmeats, cracked corn and sunflower
seeds. Will take fruit in spring and summer.
HELPFUL PLANTS: Virginia creeper, bayberry, dogwood, elderberry, sunflower, holly,
pokeberry, pines, common fig, grape and blueberry.
Sources: Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Eastern Region;
Attracting Birds to Southern Gardens |
|
