#picides

[animalids]

Red-breasted sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber)

Photo by Marlin Harms

[dendroica]

Hairy woodpecker (via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region)

The Hairy Woodpecker is very similar to its smaller counterpart, the Downy Woodpecker. But look at that enormous beak! They use it to drill directly into the trunks of trees, whereas the Downy is more often limited to the smaller branches.

Credit: Michael Schramm/USFWS

[dendroica]

Red-headed Woodpecker along the Passaic River on New Year’s Day (by me)

[dendroica]

Yellow-bellied sapsucker (via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region)

Winter is a good time to glimpse a most peculiar type of woodpecker. Unlike other woodpeckers, sapsuckers eschew eating larvae in dead wood, opting instead to drill for sweet sap (they supplement their diet with ants and other insects attracted to the sugary goodness). Look for neat, horizontal rows of holes in trees like maple, hickory, or poplar - if you've seen this before, you have a sapsucker living in your neighborhood!

Credit: Michael Schramm/USFWS

[dendroica]

Pileated Woodpecker (via USFWS Midwest Region)

Photo by Grayson Smith/USFWS.

[dendroica]

Downy Woodpecker (by me)

[dendroica]

Black Backed Woodpecker (via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region)

Nulhegan Basin Division, Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge.

Credit: USFWS

[dendroica]

Red-headed Woodpecker (via USFWS Midwest Region)

Red-headed woodpeckers are skilled hunters, often catching insects in flight. While insects, fruits and seeds make up much of their diet, they’ll sometimes even eat mice!

Photo by Jim Hudgins/USFWS.