Woodpeckers

Hairy Woodpecker - Tunkwa Lake Road, BC On the way from Tunkwa Lake to Savanah there is a stretch of burnt out trees with a group woodpeckers including a pair of Hairy woodpeckers and two Black-backed woodpeckers. This particular bird is a female bird as it lacks the red on the back of the head. You can also tell it is not a downy based on the size of the bill in relation to the birds head. The best way to tell is to check the outer tail feathers to make sure they are completely white have no black marks. Hairy Woodpecker - Tunkwa Lake Road, BC On the way from Tunkwa Lake to Savanah there is a stretch of burnt out trees with a group woodpeckers including a pair of Hairy woodpeckers and two Black-backed woodpeckers. This particular bird is a female bird as it lacks the red on the back of the head. You can also tell it is not a downy based on the size of the bill in relation to the birds head. The best way to tell is to check the outer tail feathers to make sure they are completely white have no black marks. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com 2022
Hairy Woodpecker - Tunkwa Lake Road, BC
Acorn Woodpecker - Mt. Lemmon, AZ On the way up Mt. Lemmon outside of Tucson, there are a couple of campgrounds that are great for birding. As you head up the mountain, you find different habitats with different birds at different elevations. At Middle Bear Picnic Area we found a family of Acorn Woodpeckers calling in their loud raspy calls as they do. In this particular spot they were spending time around an old stump with berries that had fallen into the cracks. These birds are known for storing their acorns in trees called granaries which look like they are poka-doted from the tops of the acorns seen here.
Acorn Woodpecker - Mt. Lemmon, AZ
Pileated Woodpecker - Assiniboine Forest, MB North America's largest living woodpecker is the Pileated Woodpecker. They are roughly the size of a crow with a beak that can do some damage. Woodpeckers have a very specific set of tools that they use to extract breakfast from the trees they cling to. The toes of most woodpeckers are arranged in a two up and two back set up which allows for a much better hold on the trees they cling to. They also have a tongue that is extremely long in order to reach into holes hiding their food. So long that they need a special way to keep all that tongue in their heads seen here. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Pileated Woodpecker - Assiniboine Forest, MB
Northern Flicker - Cypress Hollyburn Nordic Area, BC During a tour this summer up Cypress Mountain in the Cross Country Ski Area we came across a Red-shafted Northern Flicker with just its head sticking out of a nest hole. Flickers are notorious for making holes in the sides of wood sided houses. They can make quite the racket while they are doing this. The also will find the item in their territory that makes the most sound when rapping on it with that very pointed bill. Sometimes that means the sheet metal fireplace flu. Now there is a noise. During a tour this summer up Cypress Mountain in the Cross Country Ski Area we came across a Red-shafted Northern Flicker with just its head sticking out of a nest hole. Flickers are notorious for making holes in the sides of wood sided houses. They can make quite the racket while they are doing this. The also will find the item in their territory that makes the most sound when rapping on it with that very pointed bill. Sometimes that means the sheet metal fireplace flu. Now there is a noise. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com 2022
Northern Flicker - Cypress Hollyburn Nordic Area, BC
Pileated Woodpecker - McKenzie Trails Park, AB I am not sure if this woodpecker was moving from the shadows to the sun and needed an iris check or it was just surprised. We found this beauty on a quest to find another woodpecker that goes by the name Black-backed in McKenzie Trails Park, Red Deer. These giants of the forest are North American's largest woodpeckers only by default as the Ivory-billed birds have been considered Extinct. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Pileated Woodpecker - McKenzie Trails Park, AB
Northern Flicker - West Cloverdale, BC Northern Flickers are some of the most attractive birds that seem to fly under the radar with most people. I have had countless people get a hold of me to find out what the bird with the big black spot on his chest is. They are also one of the most conspicuous with their call and have see them on the top of the backyard bird count as the most seen species. This Red-shafted version was along the Serpentine River in West Cloverdale during the IBA count for Boundary Bay. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Northern Flicker - West Cloverdale, BC
Pileated Woodpecker - Cousins Bay, BC North American's largest woodpecker can be as quiet as a whisper or as noisy as a flock of geese. The later is mostly when a pair is on their nesting territory in mating season. The bird that used to hold the previous record for the largest woodpecker in North America is the Ivory-billed woodpecker which is now thought to be extinct. The last undisputed sighting is from 1944 in the swamps of Louisiana. The north eastern slope of the Kalamaka Lake was where this bird was searching stumps for a bit to eat. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Pileated Woodpecker - Cosens Bay, BC
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Golden Eagle Golf Course, BC Such a great bird to watch. They have some personality when they are interacting with other sapsuckers. This bird was reaping the rewards of his hard work by sucking out the sap that was coming to his
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Golden Eagle Golf, BC
Red-naped Sapsucker - McLeod Lake, BC One of our sapsuckers here in British Columbia is this Red-naped version with the others being a Red-Breasted, Yellow-bellied and Williamson's. This particular bird is found in the drier sections of the interior favoring poplar groves. One of the cool things about sapsuckers are the wells they drill in selected trees. Not only do they drink the sap of the trees for a sugar meal from which they make side by side holes for but they also drill holes vertically where the sap traps insects. These traps are then checked on regularly for a quick protein meal. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Red-naped Sapsucker - McLeod Lake, BC
Northern Flicker - Ladner Harbour Park, BC This is one of the birds I get asked about the most, being the bird nerd that I am. It is funny how one of the most commonly seen birds in North America is one of the most common surprises for being so beautiful. Northern Flickers are part of the woodpecker family but do tend to spend a good deal of time on the ground looking for insects in the grass. I am old enough to remember when this species was split in two with a Red-shafted and a Yellow-shafted flavor. Today they are lumped together as a Northern Flicker. We also have a Guilded Flicker in the southwest United States. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Northern Flicker - Ladner Harbour Park, BC
Pileated Woodpecker - Burnaby Lake, BC Our biggest woodpecker here in North America is a resident of the swampy areas of Burnaby Lake. The Pileated wooodpecker is crow sized but can be difficult to spot sometimes perched up against the higher section of tree trunks, but all bets are off when they start dismantling the wood looking for food. The chips can fly with little effor when that large well-shaped beak gets put to work. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Pileated Woodpecker - Burnaby Lake, BC
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Milner, BC A great find for all of us on the Bird Count, My partner and I are the team for the most North East section of the Christmas Bird Count for Surrey/White Rock/Langley and found this guy. On one of the country roads in Langley, this apple tree had more than fruit hanging in it. Another find for this woodpecker of the west coast was an apple to keep it fed on the cold days when sap just doesn't flow. Red-breasted Sapsuckers are the one sapsucker found here year round leaving the drier climates to the Red-naped and Williamson Sapsuckers. east and north of Vancouver. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Milner, BC
Hairy Woodpecker - Richmond, BC Hairy Woodpeckers are one of the residents at the Richmond Nature Park found at the peanut and suet feeders behind the nature house. One of the toughest things about birding is identifying Hairys vs Downys and you know what I mean if you have been in the field trying to figure out which one is ratcheting up the tree in front of you trying to get a view of the underside of the tail. In this photo you can see very clearly that there are no black marks on the underside of the tail which makes this a hairy woodpecker along with the slightly larger thicker bill. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Hairy Woodpecker - Richmond, BC
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Piper Spit, BC I am really a whole bird picture guy with all (or most) of the identifiers in the photo. Once in a while I just can resist posing something a little more fun like this very coy sapsucker. I was down at Piper Spit on Burnaby Lake and headed back to my care when I saw the red flash disappear behind the no parking post. Being as it flew there, I knew it mostly likely had feathers and I needed to see it. As I stalked the post, a curious little head popped up and had to have a look at the two legged person creeping up on the post. The special meeting left a big smile on my face. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Piper Spit, BC
Downy Woodpecker - Ladner Harbour Park, BC Male woodpeckers here in North America are usually found with some red or in some cases, extra red on their heads as is the case with this male Downy Woodpecker. Females are strictly black and white. Check out this amazing blog for the rest of the Woodpeckers of North America. This photo was taken in Ladner Harbour Park just behind the dog park while we were looking for two rare Jays. A Blue Jay and a California Scrub-jay. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Downy Woodpecker - Ladner Harbour Park, BC
White-headed Woodpecker - Wenas, WA One of my latest life list birds is this beautiful and unusual female White-headed woodpecker of the west coast pine forests. I tried once to find these small woodpeckers with no luck. I have heard it said that they follow along in mixed flocks with White breasted and Red-breasted nuthatches, Mountain and Black-capped chickadees. The play here was to drive down the forestry road with the windows down until I heard one of these flocks. About an hour into the drive the tell tail nuthatch and chickadee songs were coming from a patch of pines across a farmers field. Patience paid off and the flock slowly may it's way to the road. In fact a second flock showed up from the other direction and sure enough they both had a woodpecker each. The first had a male that came in very high in the trees, but I was very excited to catch a glimse. after 15 minutes he made his way to the base of a tree that was very close to the road. Little did I know it was to chatter at this female that was behind us. I followed them for another 20 minutes and they both flew in separate directions with their respective mixed flocks. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
White-headed Woodpecker, Wenas, WA
White-headed Woodpecker - Wenas, WA This was the male White-headed Woodpecker that I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Northwest of Yakima, Washington. I had already been once to the location in a previous year with no luck along any part of the dirt road. I had resigned myself to finding one of these uncommon woodpeckers this day by finding a mixed flock of nuthatches and chickadees. Sure enough I heard the flock some distance away from the road, but patiently waited for them to come my way. I was rewarded some 20 minutes later with a look at this male some ways up the pine trees. Within the next ten minutes, the bird was foraging on the trunks of the trees next to the road within 10 feet of the ground. Not 10 minutes after that the bird flew across the road and to my surprise, a female White-headed Woodpecker showed up on the same tree chattering to each other. One bird was a lifer, but two put a cherry on top. You can tell the difference between the two from the red patch on the back of the male's head only. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
White-headed Woodpecker Male - Wenas, WA
Downy Woodpecker - Logan Lake, BC Along the late fall path on the south side of Logan Lake was the tap tapping of a woodpecker. Closer inspecting among the chickadee's was this little Downy Woodpecker checking the trees for insects below the bark. If you watch close enough, some of those taps are not to get through the bark, but to locate potential prey. Once the bird is satisfied that the sound could lead to food, that is when the bark flys. You can see where he had found a bit of something under the bark on the trunk under his feet. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Downy Woodpecker - Logan Lake, BC
Red-naped Sapsucker - Anarchist Mountain, BC This male Red-naped Sapsucker was headed back to the homestead to drop some food for his young family. He checked me out a couple times and then disappeared within the trunk of the tree. The female was much more efficient in bringing meals to the home as she was there 2/3 more than fancier male. The poplar and the sapsuckers were found on Anarchist Mountain just east of Osoyoos, BC. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Red-Naped Sapsucker - Anarchist Mountain, BC
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Burnaby Lake, BC I was on a mission to find this bird that had been listed on eBird. I walked around for hours looking for the red and black woodpecker. I finally gave up and headed back to the truck and fired it up to move to the next spot. Just as I was putting the keys in, I saw a flutter off to the left by 30 feet and guess who it was. This tree no longer exists up-right but there are still sapsuckers alive and well in this little section of wilderness in the middle of Greater Vancouver. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Red-breasted Sapsucker - Burnaby Lake, BC
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Pileated Woodpecker - Nicomekl Trail, BC
Pileated Woodpecker - Stanley Park, BC Nice close up of this magnificent bird making short work of this stump in Stanley Park, Vancouver. This one was a very good subject as I walked down the path towards the Siwash Rock. This is a male bird told by the red head. All North American male woodpeckers have red while the females do not. Michael W Klotz 2006 www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Pileated Woodpecker - Stanley Park, BC