![]() ![]() This Downy Woodpecker was tapping away on some cattails, Hopefully on my next walk I’ll see another one and finally get a photo. The Pileated Woodpecker could be considered a nemesis bird for me because I’ve never been able to get a photo of one. I was able to get fairly good photos of the Downy and Hairy, but not the Pileated! It flew away before I could take a photograph. This is the first walk I’ve taken where I saw all three species of woodpeckers occuring in our area. On my two and a half hour walk, I saw only seven bird species: Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Raven, Pileated Woodpecker, and Hairy Woodpecker. Even thought it’s still the beginning of November, winter has set in on the Canadian prairies the sloughs are covered with ice, snow has blanketed the ground, and most animals have migrated to warmer places or are hibernating. The weather was fairly cold -15 C (5F), but luckily there was no wind so it was quite a pleasant walk. On Saturday, I went out for a walk around the slough across the road from our house. White-breasted Nuthatch in my grandparents’ yard, If you have a favorite recipe, please share it in the comments! If you make the whole recipe and have too much, it freezes very well. Melt the lard/fat with the peanut butter, then add cornmeal, flour, and any dried fruit and/or nuts to the mixture and stir well. Let it cool and harden in any container, and then it’s ready to put on a tray feeder, in a suet cage, or in a tin can. any dried fruit or nuts you’d like to add.1 lb lard and some bacon grease (or the fat of your choice). ![]() My grandmother reminded me that birds enjoy this in the summer, and one of the benefits of this recipe, since it’s not straight suet, is that it’s not very drippy when the temperature gets warmer. Here is my grandmother’s recipe which is a hit with Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and even Redpolls, as you can see from the photos below. Suet can be provided in a variety of feeders: smeared on a branch or log or even on a pine cone, in a suet cage, in a tray, or in a mesh bag (like in the kind onions come in). One of the benefits of making your own suet cake is saving money as well as knowing what’s in it. You can buy the mixture, or make your own. You can provide plain suet, or mix it with nuts, raisins, and other fruit. Unlike the Acorn Woodpecker, though, it doesn't dig storage holes, only wedging seeds, nuts, and other food items deep within existing crevices where other animals cannot reach.Suet is an excellent source of energy for birds. Like the Pinyon Jay and the Acorn Woodpecker, the Red-bellied Woodpecker caches extra food for lean times. Researchers have noted that male and female Red-bellied Woodpeckers tend to forage in slightly different micro-habitats, with males working along tree trunks and females mostly on the limbs. Interestingly, the male has a wider tongue tip and longer bill than the female, allowing him to reach deeper. This woodpecker species is especially suited to extracting prey from crevices, thanks to a long, sticky, barbed tongue and a chisel-shaped bill. It will drink sap from Yellow-bellied Sapsucker wells, and it's a common sight at backyard feeders, along with Downy, Hairy, and Pileated Woodpeckers. Like other species in the genus, the Red-bellied Woodpecker is an opportunistic feeder, dining on insects, fruits, seeds, and small vertebrates including lizards, frogs, fish, and bird nestlings. In northern parts of their range, Red-bellied Woodpeckers usually raise a single clutch per season, but in the South, they may raise two or even three clutches per year. Both parents also feed the young once they hatch. The female lays three to eight white eggs in the nest cavity, which both parents incubate in turns, with the female on the day shift and the male taking over at night. If a suitable tree isn't available, the Red-bellied Woodpecker will excavate a nest in a utility pole or fence post, or even re-use a cavity dug by another woodpecker. If she joins him, they engage in a mutual tapping display before settling down to excavate a nest cavity, usually in a dead tree or limb. The male initiates courtship by drumming to attract the female's attention. ![]() They are seasonally monogamous, meaning that pairs remain together for one nesting season. Red-bellied Woodpeckers pair off in late winter and early spring. ![]()
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