Red-headed Woodpecker

1/400s at f5,6, ISO:800, Canon Mark III 1Ds w/800m


The Red-headed Woodpecker is a small or medium-sized woodpecker from temperate North America. Their breeding habitat is in open country across southern Canada and the eastern-central United States. These birds fly to catch insects in the air or on the ground, forage on trees or gather and store nuts. They are omnivorous, eating insects, seeds, fruits, berries, nuts, and occasionally even the eggs of other birds. About two thirds of their diet is made up of plants. They nest in a cavity in a dead tree, utility pole, or a dead part of a tree that is between 8 and 80 feet (2.5 to 25 m) above the ground. They lay four to seven eggs in early May which are incubated for two weeks. Two broods can be raised in a single nesting season. Northern birds migrate to the southern parts of the range, with most having arrived on the breeding range by late April, and having left for winter quarters by late October; southern birds are often permanent residents.
Medicine Creek, NE
 
07/08/2010