It’s bird time again.  Today I bring you probably my favorite bird captured in my lens so far.  I According to my little guide, it is a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  In case you are confused, he is the larger guy on the right.

He is the largest bird that visits my feeders and although this picture appears to contradict this statement, when he is around, most other birds stay away.  I am guessing the chickadees didn’t see him because they are a little jittery anyway and he apparently scares most of the other species.  This is an assumption, but I have never seen him be aggressive to any other bird and generally stays in his own little world.  That massive weapon of beak he has definitely commands some respect.

In case you are unsure if it is a male or female, the following shot makes it pretty clear.

Apparently the female has a tannish dome along with the red.

I did mention that most birds are scared away by his presence, but another woodpecker family member has no issues with feeding alongside him.  I believe this particular shot shows a female Hairy Woodpecker partaking in the free food as well.  I have a lot more pictures of that particular bird in an upcoming blog entry so I will not go into my notes on her at the moment.

It also gives additional reference to how much larger the red-bellied species is than all the other birds that visit.   I’ve nicknamed him The King and always take the time to watch him when he takes a break from the head pounding on the deadwood to fill up on the seeds.  I just took note that I do not know what his preferred seed is… stay tuned while I continue to investigate that trait.  That is all I have for the moment.