when out birding, woodpeckers are one of my favorite finds
in Kentucky, where i live there are seven different kinds
the smallest is the Downy and they seem to like my suet feeders best
I always see them in a pair so I hope nearby is their nest
next we have the Hairy and its just bigger by a bit
in the evenings they seem most active so I like to go outside and sit
a Red Bellied woodpecker visits one of my trees each day
I am pretty sure when I hear its call it asking me to play
Northern Flickers have speckles and a black patch on its chest
Its feathers are mostly brown, and not black and white like the rest
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker is my favorite one to say
I spotted my very first one in a field of flowers on a hot summer day
the Pileated is the largest and loudest and a majestic one to see
they like to make their nests in the cavity of a large dead tree
the last is the wood-cockaded that I have yet to spot
its rare and likes pine forests but I will give it my best shot
a fallen pine log:
red-cockaded woodpeckers
taps their lost fair well
****The Red-cockaded Woodpecker has less than 1% of its original population. They make their home in mature pine forests, preferably long leaf pine, which have been drastically reduced due to disease and harvesting. While other woodpeckers bore out cavities in dead trees where the wood is rotten and soft, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker is the only one which excavates cavities exclusively in living pine trees. They play a key role in their ecosystem. A number of other birds and small mammals use the cavities excavated by Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, such as chickadees, bluebirds, titmice, and several other woodpecker species, reptiles, and insects. Florida, my home, is one of the remaining southern states they are still found in. Steps are being taken to protect and recreate their nesting grounds***********