Join BirdNote tomorrow, November 30th!
Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!
The Red-bellied Woodpecker and Its Curious Name
Its blushing belly is the last thing you'll notice!
© Kelly Colgan Azar
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.
BirdNote®
The Red-bellied Woodpecker and its Curious Name
Written by Bob Sundstrom
Mary McCann: 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]
For BIrdNote, I'm Mary McCann.
BirdNote gives you the sounds of birds every day, and you can get the sights as well when you follow us on Instagram, at BirdNote Radio. / @BirdNoteRadio
###
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 / 2021 January 2024
Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# RBWO-01b-2014-03-27 RBWO-01b
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Mary McCann
NarratorSights & Sounds
Related Field Notes
Living year round along the Pacific Coast of the US and into the Southwest, Anna's Hummingbirds a