Red-bellied Woodpeckers
Kimberly Writes: Masked marauders are forcing us to take all of our bird feeders in at night. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it. The most recent reward is watching our adult male Red-bellied Woodpecker teaching his kid the ropes. Male and female RBWOs often divide the parenting duties once the young have fledged, so you'll often see just one or the other with part of the brood. We're happy that one of the adults selected our yard for his kid's training grounds!
...and peanuts!
So, of course, the kid learned how to exploit these two offerings first.
And while it's figured out the bird feeder gig, dad is still teaching it how to search for grubs and other goodies in our dead ash trees.
Dad delivers a juicy snack to the youngster,
providing some incentive for the kid to search on his own.
Learn more about Red-bellied Woodpeckers on the Audubon website.http://www.audubon.org/field-gu…/bird/red-bellied-woodpecker
Absolutely! I am loving watching all the young ones attempt to feed like their parents do. We have the same thing going on here in Tucson with our Gila Woodpeckers. Absolutely adorable! Although I don't think they'd like me to use the word adorable:) They are after all, birds:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by our blog and sharing your observations, Chris!
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