Red-Bellied and Downy Woodpecker Juveniles
/A week ago, I saw two juvenile woodpeckers come to the bird feeder handing on my deck.
At first, I saw an adult Red-bellied Woodpecker coming to the feeder, get seeds then fly back to the maple tree.
Soon it became obvious that there was a fledgling because it followed the adult bird to the deck. The fledgling got as far as the railing and then flew back to the maple without attempting to get seed from the feeder. A few days later, I heard the fledging again and it seemed to still be following the parent…with a little more skill.
There was a juvenile Downy Woodpecker at the feeder on the same day as I saw the fledgling red-bellied woodpecker. It is a Downy rather than Hairy Woodpecker because it has black spots on the white outer tail feathers.
I had seen a juvenile downy woodpecker back on June 9th which must have been from an earlier brood. It had the same clumsy flight pattern as the one I saw on July 19th.
The woods behind our have been good places for the woodpeckers this summer!
