The Red-Headed Woodpecker would like you to know it’s more than just a “flying checkerboard”

Posted on by farlane
Red-Headed Woodpecker by Michigan Nut Photography

Red-Headed Woodpecker by Michigan Nut Photography

MSU Extension’s Michigan Natural Features Inventory lists the Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) as a species of special concern and says Red-headed woodpeckers are residents of open woodlands with widely spaced mature trees. This species typically avoids closed-canopy forest. An original inhabitant of oak and oak-pine savanna systems, red-headed woodpeckers will readily utilize golf courses, country parks, recently burned woodlands, open floodplain forest, and even rural yards with suitable nesting trees.

All About Birds has all kinds of photos & bird calls and shares that the Red-headed Woodpecker is so boldly patterned it’s been called a “flying checkerboard,” with an entirely crimson head, a snow-white body, and half white, half inky black wings. They add some interesting facts:

  • These birds don’t act quite like most other woodpeckers: they’re adept at catching insects in the air, and they eat lots of acorns and beech nuts, often hiding away extra food in tree crevices for later. This magnificent species has declined severely in the past half-century because of habitat loss and changes to its food supply.
  • The Red-headed Woodpecker is one of only four North American woodpeckers known to store food, and it is the only one known to cover the stored food with wood or bark. It hides insects and seeds in cracks in wood, under bark, in fenceposts, and under roof shingles. Grasshoppers are regularly stored alive, but wedged into crevices so tightly that they cannot escape.
  • The striking Red-headed Woodpecker has earned a place in human culture. Cherokee Indians used the species as a war symbol, and it makes an appearance in Longfellow’s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha, telling how a grateful Hiawatha gave the bird its red head in thanks for its service.
  • The oldest Red-headed Woodpecker on record was banded in 1926 in Michigan and lived to be at least 9 years, 11 months old.
  • The Red-headed Woodpecker has many nicknames, including half-a-shirt, shirt-tail bird, jellycoat, flag bird, and the flying checker-board.

John captured this chonky Jellycoat in Montcalm County. Follow Michigan Nut Photography on Facebook and for sure visit the Birds & Wildlife gallery on his website to view & purchase many more amazing pics!

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Cold Morning, Warm Pigs

Posted on by farlane
Pile o Pigs by pk Hyperfocal

Pile o Pigs by pkHyperfocal

In honor of this brutally cold morning with single digit temperatures covering the state, so I couldn’t resist re-sharing probably the toastiest photo ever to grace Michigan in Pictures. Take a stroll through pics from pkHyperfocal’s Metro Parks gallery & for sure check out all their galleries on Flickr.

Stay warm!!!

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Red Mohawk: At Home with Michigan’s Pileated Woodpecker

Posted on by farlane

Red Mohawk

Red Mohawk, photo by PK HyperFocal

The All About Birds entry for the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) says in part:

The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens.

…The male begins excavating then nest cavity and does most of the work, but the female contributes, particularly as the hole nears completion. The entrance hole is oblong rather than the circular shape of most woodpecker holes. For the finishing touches, the bird climbs all the way into the hole and chips away at it from the inside. Periodically the adult picks up several chips at a time in its bill and tosses them from the cavity entrance. Pileated Woodpeckers don’t line their nests with any material except for leftover wood chips. The nest construction usually takes 3-6 weeks, and nests are rarely reused in later years. Cavity depth can range from 10-24 inches.

Nest trees are typically dead and within a mature or old stand of coniferous or deciduous trees, but may also be in dead trees in younger forests or even in cities. Dead trees are a valuable resource as nest sites or shelter for birds and other animals, and Pileated Woodpeckers battle for ownership with Wood Ducks, European Starlings, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Eastern Bluebirds, and Great Crested Flycatchers. Occasionally bats and swifts share roost cavities with Pileated Woodpeckers.

Click through for lots more including calls, Pileated facts, and video.

PK HyperFocal’s photo background big and see more in his Feathers slideshow.

Lots more Michigan birds on Michigan in Pictures.