Location: Fellsmere, Willow street
Red-bellied Woodpecker. This photo is heavily manipulated. It was starting to rain and I had to decide between settling for a mediocre picture of the day or letting $1500 of camera equipment get wet. I went with mediocre picture and snapped the first thing I saw. But the cool thing is, I was messing with the editing tools in iPhoto, and I realized that no matter what I changed, that brilliant red on the back of his head always showed up. So I made the photo a sillouhette, with the red crown.
Most beginning birders mistake any woodpecker they see that has red on it's head with a Red-headed Woodpecker. The Red-headed woodpecker literally has a red head1 - his entire head, from the neck up, with the exception of his beak and eye, is brilliant red. All of the other woodpeckers that have red on their heads only have red accents (such as the crest and cheek on the Pileated2), with mostly black and white faces. There are also some woodpeckers such as female Hairy3 and Downy4 woodpeckers that don't have red on their heads at all.
Sources:Red-bellied Woodpecker. This photo is heavily manipulated. It was starting to rain and I had to decide between settling for a mediocre picture of the day or letting $1500 of camera equipment get wet. I went with mediocre picture and snapped the first thing I saw. But the cool thing is, I was messing with the editing tools in iPhoto, and I realized that no matter what I changed, that brilliant red on the back of his head always showed up. So I made the photo a sillouhette, with the red crown.
Most beginning birders mistake any woodpecker they see that has red on it's head with a Red-headed Woodpecker. The Red-headed woodpecker literally has a red head1 - his entire head, from the neck up, with the exception of his beak and eye, is brilliant red. All of the other woodpeckers that have red on their heads only have red accents (such as the crest and cheek on the Pileated2), with mostly black and white faces. There are also some woodpeckers such as female Hairy3 and Downy4 woodpeckers that don't have red on their heads at all.
(1) Red-headed Woodpecker, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
(2) Pileated Woodpecker photo, from my other blog
(3) Hairy Woodpecker, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
(4) Downy Woodpecker, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson
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