Here’s another bird that I’ve been seeing a lot of this spring, the Red bellied Woodpecker 🙂
This little guy was enjoying a good head scratch while preening on a pine branch at the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Preserve in Southern Pines, NC.

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One of the things I like about photographing this species is trying to catch a pic of its namesake red belly. Usually they are spotted clinging to the trunks of trees so it’s not often that we can see that their name indeed makes sense. If you look closer at these photos you can see that red color on it’s underside.

Red bellied Woodpeckers are a year round resident of North Carolina. They’re found in all 100 counties and are a relatively common sight when out birding in our mature hardwood forests. These guys are also a familiar backyard visitor both in the cities and suburbs often seen grabbing a snack from our feeders.

In addition to eating the seeds, nuts and suet that we provide for them, Red bellies are voracious consumers of insects that hide in the bark and leaves. Insects and seeds aren’t the only thing on their menu though. They are also fond of eating tree frogs, bird eggs and even minnows when they can catch them!
Crazy huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds