February 28, 2023: Red-headed or Red-bellied?
A lot of confusion exists when trying to identify our woodpeckers. A common woodpecker who may visit your feeder is a Red-bellied. While they do have red heads, if you look closely you can see a red wash on their bellies. The males are more brightly colored and have red on the top of their heads and down the back of their necks.
Female Red-bellied Woodpeckers only have red on the back of the neck and not on the top and front of the head.
Though this bird mainly eats insects, spiders, and other arthropods, it eats plenty of plant material, too. In particular, they eat acorns, nuts, and pine cones, as well as seeds extracted from annual and perennial plants and (particularly in fall and winter) fruits ranging from grapes and hackberries to oranges and mangoes. Red-bellieds will also occasionally eat lizards, nestling birds, and even minnows. And of course, they love the suet cakes that we provide!
Happy Birding!
Jado Foot