Country Birder... and Butterflies

	Red-headed Woodpecker.  The Red-headed Woodpecker is perhaps our most striking and recognizable woodpecker, with its crimson velvet hood and creamy white chest, white wing bands, and black satin cape.  It is also the most omnivorous woodpecker, expert at flycatching, and known to eat bird eggs, nestlings, and mice.  According to Birds of North America Online from Cornell, the Red-headed Woodpecker is one of four woodpecker species that stores food for later consumption.  It will take live prey such as grasshoppers and stuff into a crevice that the prey cannot escape from, and return for later consumption. Central Indiana - June 6, 2008
	Red-headed Woodpecker.  Males and females are indistinguishable.  The immature birds will have a grayish-brown head, and will have black marks in the white patches of the wings. Central Indiana - June 6, 2008
	Red-headed Woodpecker.  This photo shows an adult (top) and immature bird (below).  Note the black marks in the white wing bands.  Since the grayish-brown feathers of a juvenile have been replaced by the crimson feathers of an adult, it is likely that this immature bird is a first year bird (hatched the season prior). Central Indiana - May 16, 2008
	Red-headed Woodpecker.  The Red-headed Woodpeckers are generally declining in much of their range.  They favor large, dead and defoliated trees, and probably benefit greatly from widespread forest disease and pest outbreaks (such as Dutch Elm Disease and Emerald Ash Borer).  2008 was the first season I noticed these beautiful woodpeckers.  They were regular and frequent visitors to the suet feeders, but never approached the regular feeders.  They came, often in pairs, to the suet baskets daily until approximately mid-July and I haven't seen them since.   This year was a bountiful year for natural food sources, so perhaps they only depended on the suet cakes as a supplement early in the spring/summer months.  I am hopeful they will return and give me the opportunity to photograph a good example of juvenile plumage. Central Indiana - May 16, 2008
	Red-headed Woodpecker Central Indiana - June 20, 2008
	Red-headed Woodpecker.  Generally, the woodpeckers that visit the suet feeders (Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied) are timid and discouraged by Starlings.  The Red-headed Woodpecker is an aggressive bird, and wasted no time in claiming rights to the suet feeder. Central Indiana - June 20, 2008
	Red-headed Woodpecker Central Indiana - June 22, 2008

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