• Thursday-What'sUP October 25 - 08:23 pm

Darlene Vuorinen recently had a visitor to her Eagle River area home and was so excited, she snapped 53 photos of him. That's a Red-Bellied woodpecker and Darlene thinks this guy isn't real common to the Keweenaw and wondered if there was anyone out there in Pasty Land that could tell us more about that. In checking the AllAboutBirds.org webpage, their range map doesn't include the U.P. as part of the territory they inhabit, so Darlene might be right about that. Any birders out there with more information, feel free to chime in!

I've seen an occasional one at my suet feeder in the Flint area.

Very photogenic bird...probably heard that the UP has good wood.

Here in Menominie County, south-central U.P., the Red-Bellied Woodpecker is a common daily suet feeder visitor all year round...

I've always thought this pretty bird was misnamed. Shouldn't it be 'red-headed' instead of red-bellied. :>
Used to see them often around our place here in southern Ohio.

Congratulations Darlene on all your photos. This
woodpecker is often seen in the Menominee area as
Pat and Glenda stated. I have tried on many
occasions to take some photos of the one that
drops by our feeder. That one however is very
timid and the minute there is any movement at all
it takes flight. I have even tried from my kitchen
window. Perhaps the feeder is to close to the
house. I love watching it feed. It will take a
sunflower seed from the top of the feeder, fly
down to a hole in the post and then cracks the
seed and then eats his breakfast. They are
beautiful birds.

Love the pictures today!! Thanks for sharing!

They thrive at my feeders here in Palo, Ia.!

Beautiful pics, thanks so much!

I saw one at my daughter's place near Ishpeming a little over a
month ago.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker has been, and apparently still is expanding its range to the North, especially more common now in the Winter months. Like the Hairy and Downy, besides suet, enjoys visits to Sunflower and other seed feeders. Also comical, like the above two, but much bigger, it frequents our Hummingbird feeders, tilting and spilling the nectar, but enjoying a special treat. Ours do not seem very 'skittish' as Brenda's, tolerate us around their feeding sites. We think that there are at least three pairs around early in the year (Stephenson Twp., a few miles north of Brenda)....then juveniles later...seldom more than 2-3 will come in at the same time.....and why do we still misspell "Menominee" so frequently??

They are very common here in northeast GA, in fact
they are our most common woodpecker. I saw one
wedge a water oak acorn in the bark of a pine tree
the other day; it then proceeded to peck until it
was open.

It's not called a Red-headed Woodpecker because
there is another bird called that, and it is
absolutely stunning. Early ornithologists usually
named birds as they looked at a specimen in hand.
The Red-bellied does have a wash of red across its
lower belly; we sometimes see it when they come to
the deck rail for the bird seed we put there.