There were plenty of cool birds on the wires in Carteret County this weekend, but the trees held their fair share as well. The red-headed woodpecker is "locally common" in some areas, but we rarely encounter them in our neck of the woods, so it was a real treat to spot this one during our wild weekend.
Among the most visually striking of birds, the red-headed woodpecker is the only American woodpecker with an entirely red head, white body, and wings which are half white and half black. Some sources estimate the red-headed woodpecker's numbers have declined by as much as 70 percent in its historic range since the 1960's, so we were pleased to see them apparently doing quite well in this locale.
We noticed several large standing dead trees nearby, filled with woodpecker holes, and suspect they may have contributed to apparently healthy local population of this really cool bird.
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