Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Melanerpes carolinus

This is a medium sized woodpecker but the largest winter woodpecker that is a feeder visitor at Protection Farm. In fact the only larger woodpecker in the area is the Pileated which does not visit the feeder to my knowledge. This may be due to the fact that the Pileated prefer insects such as carpenter ants to seeds and nuts, although they eat seeds and nuts. The Pileated's are here year round, and I expect that there are still plenty of big old trees that have caches of living Carpenter Ants.

I am not sure if we have more than one individual Red-bellied here, but I am thinking that there may be just the this one photographed one visiting the feeders. This one is a male. Males have a complete red cap, females red nape only.

this is a female that I photographed two years ago.

This bird has played hard to get with me. It may be the same bird, but all of last winter and up until the last few days, this bird has played very coy. It likes to hide behind the tree limb that I have hung the feeder on. If I am outside, it flies immediately away.  It knows when I am inside the window and watches me with jerking, head around the corner moves.

 I have not been able to be near it when I am outside and so my outdoor observations are few.  It doesn’t seem to mind the other birds and share the suet feeders with both the Hairy and Downy woodpeckers, and the Chickadees and Nuthatches in what seems to be a very amicable way. They don’t seem to get a long with the Blue-jays and the Red Squirrels, but who does?

Occasionally it will get comfortable and hop onto the suet feeder. The best part of this is that I have been able to get underbelly shots of the bird, showing its red belly patch. I have been told by other birders that it is rare to get a glimpse of this patch.

Just this past week it has begun really exposing itself to me.  Both the Red-bellied and the Hairy have been hopping around on the tree limb, I supposed because they are used to seeing me and feel safer now. Both come into the feeder, land on the very top of the limb perch, and crawl down to the feeder and find a way to get at it. They also prefer to leave the feeder station by climbing to the top of the perch and flying away from that position. This has allowed me to get some great shots of both birds. I had not been able in three years to get a good shot at the back pattern of the Red-belly. Now I have and from tip to toe, front and back, this is a spectacular looking bird.  Now maybe I can get to know more about its social patterns.

They breed in deciduous forests of the Eastern U.S. as far south as Florida and the Gulf Coast. They have extended their range to Southern Canada and the Northeastern U.S and can now be found in the Dakotas and Montana, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.

It is tempting to call these woodpeckers “Red-headed” but they are not. Note the belly patch.

Red-bellies are omnivores, eating insects, nuts, fruit, and seeds.

Their prime habitat is deciduous forests and they nest in decayed cavities.

According to the Cornell All About Birds Life History page:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/id

-You may occasionally see a Red-bellied Woodpecker flying quickly and erratically through the forest, abruptly changing direction, alighting for an instant and immediately taking off again, keeping up a quick chatter of calls. Scientists categorize this odd behavior as a type of play that probably helps young birds practice the evasive action they may one day need.

-A Red-bellied Woodpecker can stick out its tongue nearly 2 inches past the end of its beak. The tip is barbed and the bird’s spit is sticky, making it easier to snatch prey from deep crevices. Males have longer, wider-tipped tongues than females, possibly allowing a breeding pair to forage in slightly different places on their territory and maximize their use of available food.

-The oldest known Red-bellied Woodpecker was 12 years 1 month old.

Calls and Sound: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/sounds

February 6, 2011 
Update

Today a female appeared at the feeders. She was a little shy but I got a couple of photos of her.

Winter Woodpeckers at Protection Farm

We have three Woodpecker species at Protection Farm during the winter months that regularly visit the feeding stations. 

 Hairy Woodpecker  Piocedes villosus

This is the larger of the two "twin" Woodpeckers, the Hairy and the Downy

Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens

Noticebly smaller, you can easily compare these two feeding here on the same suet feeder

  Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus

The Pileated Woodpecker (Drycopus pileatus) is unusual to see during the winter and slightly more common in the summer and fall. They are certainly here but they do not visit the feeders where we observe most of our winter birds. I have seen the Pileated at least twice this month, flying over the meadow but the intense cold and constant snow has kept me inside more than I would like. In the summer they are still difficult to see, but you can hear them frequently. They keep their distance. I know of a nesting hole about a mile from the farm across the marsh. Several years ago when we lived in Java NY at Hobbit Hollow we had a family nest just outside of our house. We spent an entire season closley observing mom and dad and two young. They were an extremely tight knit family.  I had, but long ago lost, a really neat photo of the four of them on a Norway Spruce trunk at about eye level.   Pileated have a territory of about 1 mile in which they are fairly protective. I occasionally see individuals coming over Protection Farm from the east and the west, and I assume that this farm is in a disputed territorial area.

Northern Flickers are also common here in the warmer months.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodpecker

Woodpecker Order is Picaformes and the family is Picidae. Picidae are known as or “near passerines” which is the way ornithologists describe birds that basically hang out in and around trees. Woodpeckers are highly adapted to search for food and nest in trees.

There are about 200 species of Woodpecker worldwide. There are 54 species listed by the American Ornithological Union in its checklist area which covers North and Central America from the North Pole to the boundary of Panama and Colombia, including the adjacent islands under the jurisdiction of included nations; the Hawaiian Islands; Clipperton Island; Bermuda; the West Indies including the Bahama Islands; the Greater Antilles; Leeward and Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles (ending with Grenada); and Swan, Providencia, and San Andres Islands in the Gulf of Mexico. Greenland is not currently included in the AOU (7th Edition)  

The National Geographic Society Field Guide to north American birds 2^nd Edition includes 22 species, and the Buffalo Ornithological Society Seasonal Checklist of birds list 7 species of Woodpeckers. You can download the BOS Checklist here:

http://www.buffaloornithologicalsociety.org/publications

I will post about our Protection Farm Woodpeckers in upcoming blogs.

A Jar of Nuthatches

White-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

The collective term for nuthatches is “jar”.  As in a jar of honey.  Don’t know the origin of the term, will investigate.

At Protection Farm we have two species of Nuthatch- The Red-breasted (Sitta candensis) and the White-breasted (Sitta carolinensis)

-From Wikipedia: The Nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittadae. Characterized by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs.”

-The name Nuthatch refers to the birds propensity of wedging an insect or seed in a crack and then going at it with the beak. There are 24 species currently recognized world wide with about 15 occurring in southern Asia. North America has 4 species

-The Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusillia) (southeast USA)

-Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) Western North America from British Columbia to Mexico

-Red-breasted (Western and temperate North America)

-White-breasted (from southern Canada to Mexico)

There are nine subspecies of the White-breasted including two found in Mexico: S c mexicana found in Western Mexico, and S c kinneari, found in Guerrero and Oaxaca

Both the White Breasted and the Red-breasted Nuthatch occur year round at Protection Farm. The White-breasted nest and breed here for certain, the Red-breasted are migratory and subject to seasonal irruption.

Male

White-breasted Nuthatch  

Sitta carolinensis

http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/wbnut.htm

Cornell, All About Birds: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/id

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-breasted_Nuthatch

The White-breasted Nuthatch is a common year round resident at Protection Farm.

This small bird is the largest of North America’s nuthatches. It is non-migratory and seems to be paired with a mate year round.  It can be very friendly and is extremely vocal. Its nasal yanking call is very familiar in every season around the woods and feeders. It is especially noticeable in winter as one of the few resident species of birds. Jajean calls these birds “Squeak-toys” because of both the call and the song.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/sounds

White-breasted Nuthatches are active members of foraging flocks of chickadees, especially in wintertime. The flock behavior makes it easier for them to watch out for predators. They eat nuts and seeds in the winter, which makes them familiar winter feeder birds.  In the summer they eat insects and larvae as well as seeds. They favor mature deciduous woodland.

Feeding behavior includes creeping up and down on tree trunks, and hanging upside down. They probe natural furrows and crevices for food.  They do not use their tail feathers to lean on as woodpeckers do. These birds have evolved enlarged hind-toes to enable this behavior.

Male walking below Downy Woodpecker on Suet Feeder

Male, note the shiny black cap

Female-blue gray cap

Enlarged hind toe for easier creeping and clasping

The adult male has a shiny black crown and forehead. Its black eyes stand out against the white face. Its back is bluish-gray, its underbelly and undertail white and chestnut.  The female and young birds are generally paler with a lead gray crown and forehead. the beak is slender, powerful, and sometimes slightly upturned.

female resting in pin cherry as male feeds

Male

Note the Chestnut colored under tail feathers

Courting takes place in late January.  According to Stokes, paired birds hang around together all year long and establish some independence starting in late autumn. By late January they begin to reestablish closeness and by early spring they are in “complete synchrony.”  It is this late January time when you will notice that the male and female stay within 50 or so feet of each other. During this time the male will begin singing its song from the tops of the trees in early morning.

I noticed this singing this morning just at dawn.  We had an unusual dawn today. It was a brilliant sunlit dawn and the temperatures were astoundingly cold. In nearby Franklinville, a mere 10 miles from Protection Farm, the temperatures hit -24 degrees F at 7am.  Here it was -15. This was the coldest temperature in several years. And yet at dawn, I could hear a Nuthatch singing from the tree-tops. Theoretically the female will then come to the male and they will then go off and feed together.   Also according to Stokes, one of the most prominent features of courtship is called “mate-feeding.”  The male will get excited and find food and bring it to the female.

“Usually the female receives food with little or no display, but he males behavior may vary. He may run along a branch in a straight line to the female rather than the usual zig-zagging. Sometimes the food in the male’s beak is not accepted by the female and he will hide it in a crevice for later retrieval. Mate feeding increases in frequency as breeding, nest building, and hatching approach. Once the young hatch, this activity stops.”

Nest building and breeding take place in late March, April, and May.  By late July the young have fledged and the adults return to more solitary behavior. Nests are typically built in natural tree cavities or abandoned woodpecker holes. Although populations remain fairly steady, habitat loss such as the removal of natural cavity structures is a threat. A single brood of between 5-9 is raised during the breeding season. The eggs are incubated for about 2 weeks.

Today, as the temperatures slowly rose into the 20’s there were at least three pairs of Nuthatches feeding.  It was rare that more than one appeared on the suet, which is their favorite, at one time. Usually one would come in and feed and the other would wait just off in the nearby pin cherry trees.  Occassionally a male would linger longer at the suet, and just sit there not feeding. The female would sit patiently for a while, but occasionally would fly in and make a bit of a racket chasing the male away.  Occasionally two females would come to the feeding station at the same time. They would not feed adjacent to each other, but rather one would be at the suet, and one would be at one of the regular feeders.

Red Breasted Nuthatch 
Sitta canadensis

This bird, common during the winter at Protection Farm is a migrant.  It can breed in this area.  Irruptions from the north including boreal areas occur seasonally due to conditions including availability of food. Not all populations migrate.  According to Cornell some populations move south in great numbers in years when cone production is poor in their breeding grounds. This happens in approximately 2 year cycles. Some years these birds show up as far south as the Gulf Coast. It can winter through out most of the continental us (not Alaska).  It also breeds in the Rockies, south to the Mexican border and along the Pacific Coast. They were once resident on the Mexican Isla Guadalupe, on the Pacific Coast but have been extirpated since 1971. Occasional vagrants have been recorded in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Neuvo Leon.

These birds begin migration relatively early, sometimes in early July.

Cornell: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/id?gclid=CIGr25nF1aYCFQRvbAodfC4sIw

They nest in trees, sometimes high in trees, sometimes only about 15 feet above the ground. They use resin around the entrance of the nest hole and on the inside. They may use their beaks or a piece of bark as an applicator. The resin keeps predators away. The Nuthatch avoids the resin by diving directly through the entrance hole.

Their call and song is very similar to the White-breasted Nuthatch.  The call can be slightly more nasal, and the song can reach more of trill. Some say that the pitch is slightly higher than the White-breasted.

Sound: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/sounds

Red-breasted Nuthatches are smaller than the White-breasted. They have a distinct cap stripe and a black eye stripe. It is the only North American nuthatch with an eyestripe. Both sexes have dark gray backs and wings, and reddish underparts. The female has slightly paler underparts.

The male cap is starkly black and the female’s is slightly gray and offers little contrast to the back gray. 

I have not noticed that these birds appear in pairs in the winter. Each bird seems to be solitary. They may begin to pair in March. Eggs are laid in April and May.

Food seems to be the same as the White-breasted. Nuts and insects. They are fond of conifer seeds.

http://www.birdsbybent.com/ch81-90/rbnuthatch.html

Both Nuthatches tend to flock with Chickadees and other winter flock birds including Titmice, Junco's, and White-throats. 

This was my very first photo of a Nuthatch, taken in 2009

Winter Quiet

The first day of the storm.

This whole January has been cold. Air temperatures have been below normal almost every day. It has also snowed at Protection Farm nearly every day.  Cities along the Northeast coast, New York, New Haven, and even up to Concord and Portland have already received more snow this year than they usually do in a whole year. And today is January 23. We have had been some pretty big snows and winds here. Nothing like the dark howling blizzards that I have seen in some winters, but the low roar has picked up several nights in the treetops. One night it almost felt like the forest around the house was being lifted up,  but that passed in a few hours.  

Its seems that it has been snowing every day. The snowpack is about 3 feet here at the farm.

I guess you could call this a typical January in Western New York. But is sure has been cold.

The cold has come in on a couple of brilliant and clear fronts.  We have had three cold fronts in the past two weeks.  Tonight is the 4^th.

Dawn of Saturday January 22

January 22

This could be a sand dune?

Bird feeding station at living room picture window

White-breasted Nuthatch visiting during the storm 

Hairy Woodpecker has been here every day.

This Red squirrel and his pals come around every mid morning and raid the whole feeding station.  Usually they don't scare off very easily. Today I let them get their fill for about two hours and then I scared them off, and they stayed away the rest of the day.

Tonight is predicted to hit -5F in Buffalo, 40 miles away. It is sometimes as much as 15 degrees cooler here on Protection Farm.

Right now, the sun has set. It is very quiet outside. Not a bit of wind. 

Many of the January evenings have brought with them calling screech and Great Horned Owls.

I haven’t heard any for almost 5 days, since the big storm that dumped a foot or more on us through yesterday morning.  So far tonight, no owls. The sky is clear. It is cold. The stars are sparkling.

As we settle into the night we are bundled up against the cold. Jonna and I wrapped in blankets and both cats sitting nearby, looking for any chance to climb onto a lap.  It is very winter quiet outside right now.