The Red-bellied Woodpecker and its Curious Name
Red-bellied Woodpeckers are bold, conspicuous, and vocal, thriving in rural and urban areas east of the Mississippi. Like most woodpeckers, Red-bellieds eat lots of insects. But they also like nuts, berries, and seeds. They can be attracted to back yards with suet cakes, berry bushes, or even a cut orange tacked to a tree trunk. But the Red-bellied Woodpecker retains one element of mystery: its name. The last thing you would likely notice is the blush of rose on its lower belly. Click on View Large under the photo to see it!
BirdNote®
The Red-bellied Woodpecker and its Curious Name
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[Rolling call of Red-bellied Woodpecker]
As woodpeckers go, they’re bold and conspicuous, thriving even in back yards and city parks east of the Mississippi. And Red-bellied Woodpeckers are unabashedly vocal – some might say noisy. [Rolling call of Red-bellied Woodpecker]
The Red-bellied is a good-sized woodpecker, more than nine inches tall. Sleek and handsome. Its back is crisply barred, zebra-like, in black and white; its underside glows a warm buff. And the male sports a scarlet crown and nape.
Like most woodpeckers, Red-bellieds eat lots of insects. But they also like nuts, berries, and seeds. [Red-bellied Woodpecker “chatter-chi” call] They can be attracted to back yards with suet cakes, berry bushes, or even a cut orange tacked to a tree trunk, so they can enjoy the pulp and juice. [Rolling call of Red-bellied Woodpecker]
But the Red-bellied Woodpecker retains one element of mystery: its name. Why call it “red-bellied”? Whoever first named the species must have had a wry sense of humor. For, on this strikingly patterned bird, the last thing you would likely notice is a slight blush of rose on its lower belly. [Rolling call of Red-bellied Woodpecker]
BirdNote's online Sights & Sounds Gallery holds an amazing collection. And one of those photos is of the red belly of a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Well, … let's say it’s …. reddish. I'm Mary McCann. Check it out at BirdNote.org. [Drumming of Red-bellied Woodpecker]
###
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Rolling “churr” call of Red-bellied Woodpecker [105714] recorded by G.A. Keller; “chatter-chi” call recorded by M. Fischer; drumming [102195] recorded by D. Stemple. Ambient drawn from [102195] recorded by M. Fischer.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2016 Tune In to Nature.org March 2014/2016 Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# RBWO-01b-2014-03-27RBWO-01b
Sights & Sounds
