Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Red-Bellied Woodpecker - Feeding Time

For a couple of weeks, I have watched this red-bellied woodpecker fly back up into the trees after being at our feeder. Then I noticed that another woodpecker was chasing him all over. At first I wondered why is that female chasing the male; but then I noticed, the one doing the chasing didn't have any red at all on its head. I finally realized that it must be a young woodpecker following its dad.



This morning they were a bit more out in the open so I could see what was actually happening. However, since it was still fairly early in the morning, the light was terrible. I had to use a really high ISO reading to even get enough light in the camera to shoot a picture--so these are definitely not the best.




Apparently this patient father is still "spoon feeding" this rather large baby bird. The father would go to the feeder and then fly back close to the youngster. Then after cracking open the seeds, he would place them in the young bird's beak, almost turning himself up-side-down to do so.



What a loving father!

4 comments:

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Janice, Oh --I love Red-bellied woodpeckers. I had a pair all winter that I named Pete and Petunia... Haven't seen as much of them this summer. I'd love to see a baby Pete or Petunia.

Have a great day.
Hugs,
Betsy

jalynn01 said...

I too have a pair of RB woodpeckers and I see one baby coming to the suet, but could never find the nest or catch them being fed. They are very secretive! Great capture!

Kelly said...

Ahhhh!! How cute....and wonderful you were able to capture this with your camera! I love Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Wish I had a papa flying around in my yard!

Tina said...

I think you captured a really difficult shot! How nice to get a shot of Dad and his baby..I love the twisting and turning he is doing to get that food into the "little" one's bill!!
We have two rbs who frequent our whole peanut feeder and sliced oranges but we have yet to see any youngsters HOW I WOULD LOVE THAT!!
Congrats on getting these shots!! NICE!!