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Red-bellied Woodpecker

Melanerpes carolinus
Picidae
Male has red crown and nape ...
... whereas female only has red nape
Namesake red belly neither red nor conspicuous
Another woodpecker already named " Red-headed", so ...
... wouldn't "Zebra-backed Woodpacker" have worked?
Two toes facing front, two facing back ...
... allows for clinging to vertical surfaces ...
... and other gravity-defying positions
Chisel-like bill can dig a nesting hole ...
... or probe for food in decayed wood
Same pair may nest in same nest year after year
Nest excavation done by both male ...
and female; sometimes to the extent of ...
... fighting off competitors like the aggressive European Starling
Juvenile can only handle level surface at first ...
... before moving onto sloping trunks
Except for absence of red, immature resembles adult female
Where can I hide this for a snack later?

The Red-bellied Woodpecker has been recorded at Salter Grove throughout the year, with observations clustered around the warmer months.  Usually just one or two birds are observed.  Its calls can be heard throughout the park but sightings are most often of birds foraging midway up the trunk of larger trees on both sides of the vernal pond.  Both the Pond Trail and the wooded portion of Audubon Trail lie within its preferred habitat of bottomland forest.

Common names often highlight the distinguishing feature of a bird but this is not the case in the Red-bellied Woodpecker.  The namesake red belly is rarely visible and certainly not as vibrantly orange-red as the crown and nape of the male, or the nape of the female.  Learning and recognizing its "qu-errrrr, qu-errrrr ... qu-errrrr ..." calls would help to locate birds even when they are not immediately visible.

This non-migratory hole-nester breeds in a wide variety of forest and woodland across eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida.  Its numbers notably decline when dead and decaying trees are culled from a forested area.  Nest availability is also affected by the presence of competitors such as the aggressive European Starling.  Nesting Red-bellied Woodpeckers have not been observed at Salter Grove probably because suitably-sized dead or decaying trees are absent.

Besides excavating nest holes, the chisel-like beak of the Red-bellied Woodpecker digs into thick bark or decaying wood for food.  A long tubular tongue is inserted into the opening to root out a wide variety of insects, spiders and other arthropods.  Males have a wider tongue than females and this may be an adaptation to avoid competition within a pair as they make full use of the foraging substrate within the territory that they defend.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is omnivorous.  Besides insects, it has been reported to eat nestling birds, small lizards, and small fish.  It also feeds on acorns, pine cones, and small seeds, some of which may be stored in crevices of trees for later consumption.

They are attracted to feeders provisioned with suet, peanuts and sunflower seeds, and even have been seen to sip from hummingbird feeders.  Both climate warming and easily available food set out by humans during the colder months have expanded the northern limits of this woodpecker.