Woodpeckers in Trees

Our motto here is Random Nature Pleasantly Captured. We hope that these unique and pleasant scenes from the world around us increase your enjoyment of life. 

We have a number of woodpeckers locally; some are year-round denizens.  Commonly seen are diminutive Downy and the larger Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Less frequently seen but still very much around in Northwestern Virginia are the Northern Flicker, the Hairy Woodpecker, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, the Red-headed Woodpecker and the Pileated Woodpecker.  I have noticed that woodpeckers are a pretty chatty lot. They seem to get excited when they move around from tree to tree. Perhaps they are really excited about a new feeding spot or are calling to a mate. Males generally have much more red on their crown. Their calls also tend to increase in volume with the size of the bird. Red-bellied Woodpeckers can make quite a racket in my backyard. As the woodpecker species increases in size, the pitch lowers and the volume increases of their wood-piercing sounds, so when you hear a really booming woodpecker, it is probably a Pileated Woodpecker. Woodpeckers also don’t appear to me to be great flyers as they dip between wing beats. Perhaps this is an evolutionary strategy to confuse predators or else just to conserve energy. Sky Meadows State Park or near the Shenandoah River are good locations in Virginia to search for all of the above Woodpeckers. In California you can see the clownish-looking Acorn Woodpecker that stashes its acorn prizes in the tree trunk. I saw many in the foothills of San Diego County. 1/14/24