They like nuts apparently

I just did some Googling on that and you're right -- but he isn't eating any of the offerings. Looks as if the reason he's hanging around my yard is that I have the right foods (sunflower seeds, peanuts) but it's the presentation that's styming him. Now I need to get creative and find a way to present the foods so that he, too, can join in the party. :)

Presentation? Try a garnish. Perhaps parsley or endive.

PHBT! Smarty butt. Everyone knows that woodpeckers are too red-necked to eat endive.

He's probably after the bugs feasting on the bird food.

What kind of woodpecker is he?

Oh! Go to Lowe's. I think they have woodpecker feeders.

Edited 2010-05-23 04:33 pm (UTC)

Nothing uncommon, just a little red-bellied woodpecker. His head is almost neon red. He's very pretty. :) (I also have a pair of hawks that visit every once in a while - that's unusual for Houston. And there's the raccoon that occasionally gets treed by the neighbor dog; not so unusual.)

Lowe's, eh? I'll have to check that out. I've been loathe to pay for feeders because the squirrels destroy them. I prefer to just throw the food out, widely dispersed, so that no one species can dominate. The jays swoop in for peantus, the doves mob, the cardinals bring their two fledglings, the chickadees pick around the edges, the gray squirrels and fox squirrels nap on the trellis tops between meals. It's very Disney-esque.

I'm betting that it's the ground feeding that is defeating my little woodpecker friend.

Most likely.

Red tailed hawks are pretty common in town. They even nest in Manhattan. Sorta the raccoons of the bird world - they love human habitations. :-)

Our screech owls seem to have moved on. They were dive bombing people. No hurting anyone, but freaking people out. :-) My kid got some video of them doing their "I see you" thing from high up in the trees. :-) The baby was very cute, though. All fuzzy and fluffy sitting with mom and dad and whoever the other two were. :-)

Mine are red-shouldered hawks. :) As if birds that visit once a month at most are "mine." Surprised the hell out of me when the squirrels approached them. I thought for sure I was going to witness the circle of life. Guess the hawks were recently fed.

I would love to have some owls except they'd imperil my dog and that's not good. He'd probably lose an eye to one. :( I wish something that liked to eat mice would move a little closer to my house. Since they tore down the woods behind me to build a big private school, I've had trouble with mice looking to move in with me. Didn't have that problem back when the hawk population was just over the fence.

Our nabe is also rich with bats, which makes me VERY happy. I love anything that eats mosquitoes.

Wow! Yeah, red shouldered hawks aren't all that common around here.

Our owls were the small screeches (one would fit in your cupped hands, easily) and likely wouldn't approach your dog at all. They're bug eaters, though they'll eat frogs and small fish, too. Not much into mice, or so I've read. I bet they'd eat them, if they were there, though. ;-)

Who knows, they might be heading your way. :-)

I was shocked when I went to look them up and realized they weren't the usual.

Awwww...they sound adorable! I would have loved to see them. They're welcome so long as they don't pose a threat to my dog. He's not the brightest bulb in the candelabra and he can neither see nor hear well, so I'm a bit overprotective these days.

I want mice eaters! When they get in the house, I have to capture them and release them into the arboretum. It's a pain. Although, my dog of diminished capacities did manage to capture and kill the last one. Not a fun clean up. :|

However, even if they don't eat mice they're welcome to come hang out and screech at me. And if they ever wanted a peanut, this is the Land of Plenty.

LOL!!!

You need a cat indoors. :-)

I used to and she did catch the snake that got in one day. THAT was a bloody mess. All over the place. To top it off? The snake was mauled but not dead. Fun times.

LOL! Check out the strays in your neighborhood. They're used to hunting and then eating their kills. There's a semi-feral cat around there who would love to move in and do his or her part to keep the house pest free. :-)

She was a feral! I think I'd interrupted her fun and games because the snake was mortally wounded and clearly on death's door. There was blood all over the dining room, the hall, and one of the bedrooms.

Wow! The closest I've ever come to something like that was when one idiot brought in a live bird.

The battle was epic.

The clean up sucked.

Egads! Poor you. Poor bird. :( And I imagine the cat could not figure out why you didn't think it was all Good Times.

There were three of them after it. They got it before I did, which was probably just as well since it was likely mortally wounded before it got away inside.

No, they didn't seem to grasp my dismay.

GAH! That sounds like an epic battle, all right. :|

http://www.a-home-for-wild-birds.com/red-bellied-woodpecker.html

Diet:
Red-bellied Woodpeckers eat quite a range of food--their favorite is any of the large number of insects that live on tree bark and leaves. The bird can also pluck insects out of the air. They will eat seeds, suet bird food, nuts, and berries and are common sights at backyard bird feeders. Their tastes include black-oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, pieces of dried fruit and suet. They will even store their food in the hollows of trees to eat later. Red bellied Woodpeckers can be seen hanging upside down to feed on berries found on bushes.

Strangely enough, this woodpecker also eats tree frogs, small lizards, fish, nestlings, birds, and eggs.

See, now I was all happy until that last sentence. I wonder if the this helps explain the decline in the lizard population around my house? Up until a couple of years ago, I had to be careful closing the doors at night because our little night lizards (I've completely forgotten what they're called!!) hung around the lights to eat bugs. The lizards were really cute; when backlit you could see their internal organs. And, you know, fewer insects is ALWAYS good.

I don't have many tree frogs (we get toads around here), no fish...the nestlings, birds, and eggs also makes me all frowny faced. My little friend is looking less innocent in my little Disney-vista.

Don't get all frowny faced! One little woodpecker isn't responsible for wiping out your little night lizard population. Could be a variety of reasons that the lizards have declined. Besides, he'd be a really big bird (could he still fly) if he snacked on all those lizards.

I only see the woodpecker in the morning so hopefully any lizards he's snagging are the little green anoles. (Though really, if he asked me, I'd ask him to leave them and concentrate on the bugs infesting the many trees.)

Not that I have many anoles, either. *sigh* I miss the lizards. 'Course, the daily bird frenzy might have convinced them to move elsewhere.

http://www.duncraft.com/Tail-Prop-Woodpecker-Feeder-P4432C0.aspx

http://www.duncraft.com/Peanut-Sunflower-Steel-Feeder-P1793C0.aspx


this one's good cause it's metallic... i *hate* squirrels... they chew up so many of my feeders grrrr!

That metal ones looks interesting. I'm at peace with the squirrels. I think they're cute and since I offer good eats, I have two species in my yard: gray and fox. What I don't want is to spend money to put something out there that they're just going to destroy; pointless, that. As a result, my feeding strategy has been the ultra-advanced, high-tech method called, "broadcast spreading." That is, I throw the food on the ground and the animals clean it up.

I feel so smugly superior when I read so many people cursing out the squirrels who raid their feeders because I took an animal behavior course in college and I know it's a losing battle. I watched a film of a squirrel figure out a Rube Goldberg set-up in under an hour for a single friggin' peanut. Why would anyone think that a tube on a pole would defeat these wily adversaries?!? I show my mastery of SG-1 made-up philosophy in that I deny the battle.

They are very annoying in their chewing, though. When I first started this endeavor, I bought special feeders for ground feeders, feeders for squirrels, and a tube feeder for small birds. They all became squirrel feeders and they destroyed every one of them. Even the squirrel feeders. Hmph.

Maybe metal could survive the onslaught? I'm not certain as I expect to see squirrels with tiny blow torches because they are just that resourceful.

p.s. O HAI! Long time no chat. *huggles you* Hope that life is good to you, yes?

things are going much better thank you :) *huggles back* :)

i don't know which made me LOL harder... the image of little squirrels with blowtorches or a really, fat woodpecker who couldn't get off the ground...

what annoyed me most about the squirrels was that i had read somewhere that they don't like niger seed, and i had a few out for the finches... the damn things chewed the tubes up

we had one of these http://www.duncraft.com/Droll-Yankees-Flipper-Squirrel-Proof-Feeder-Save-1000-P2080C91.aspx (the video is cute, if i remember it correctly) and it seemed to keep them off...
unfortunately one year it snowed so much that the feeder became the perfect height for the deer in the woods LOL!!

needless to say, it didn't work so well after that :)

Poor little flightless woodpecker. :(

If we have finches around here, I haven't seen them since I don't offer niger seed. Or thistle seed. Or any of those really tiny options. And it's for the very reason you mention: squirrels.

$140 for a bird feeder?!? I paid like, $15 for my dog's bowl and he LIVES with me! And snuggles. That's the sort of thing I would put on a Wish List, though. *goes off to add it my Amazon list* It was very thoughtful of you to spend so much money to feed the pretty deers. You Bambi lover, you.

Snow? What is this snow of which you speak?

Hey! My little nocturnal lizards really ARE geckos: Mediterranean Geckos!

do they ever try to sell you car insurance?

(ducking, running and grinning)
j

LOL! No, indeed. And they also fail to say, "Pip, pip, cheerio!" The cheeky bastards.

http://www.squirrelfreebirding.com/squirrel-proofing-tips/vegetarian-bird-suet-recipe.html
(course i don't know how this will last in your hot Texas weather)

or you could try this to see if he (she?) likes it
http://www.veganstore.com/vegan-suet-for-wild-birds/Page_1/690.html

(course i don't know how this will last in your hot Texas weather)

Oh, I don't know, looks like she's got our number. And I quote:
"You can either let it COOK at room temperature..." ;-)

Thank you for those links! I've had some saltless peanut butter that I bought a while back that I just can't bring myself to eat. It's...well, it's just ground up peanuts. That should be good and healthy for my little red-bellied guy. (I'm assuming guy because I'm assuming they have sexual dimorphism but I don't honestly know. Bad faunal analyst. Bad.)

And YAY! I can feed my woodpecker now.

Apropos of nothing, have I told you about my idea for a chain of ornithological-themed restaurants? It will celebrate my love for woodpeckers and hot men. I plan to call it "Peckers" and situate them next to every Hooters.

THANK GOD i'm not drinking anything, cause i would have splurted liquid all over the computer

:)

Yessssssssss! *fist pump*