Attracting Woodpeckers

There are approximately 20 species of woodpeckers found in North America. Perhaps the one with the most notoriety and certainly the most press in the Ivory Billed Woodpecker sometimes referred to as the “Lord-to-God Bird”. Its existence is a matter of much debate. You need not worry about it coming into your backyard. Its closest cousin, the Pileated, does visit backyards in the wooded South.

More commonly seen in backyards are the Red Bellied and Downy Woodpeckers and the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. The Sapsucker doesn’t like feeders because of its unique feeding habits. It prefers to drill small holes in trees from which sap exudes. The bird then sucks up this sap, hence its name. The Golden Fronted Woodpeckers will show up at feeders, too.

In order to attract woodpeckers one can put out suet. Suet feeders can be quite inexpensive and one can make their own suet or it can be purchased. Another possibility is a peanut feeder. These feeders are tubular and made of wire mesh. Filled with cracked shelled peanuts, you are going to have a whole lot of fun watching woodpeckers feeding.

Woodpeckers need places to nest and to drum. For this purpose they seek limbs and trees that have a resonating quality. One of the best things you can provide for woodpeckers is a snag. As unusual as it sounds, consider not cutting down a dead tree. If the tree is too tall and could topple over on your house or other structure, consider merely topping it off and leaving the rest. This author has done this in his backyard. To be sure, his arborist was, shall we say, a bit taken aback by his request. However, he has both Downies and Red Bellies drumming away on this hackberry snag. Our backyard has been host to several broods of both Downies and Red Bellies, too.

Photo by Bill Ravenscroft

Red Corral Ranch, Wimberly, Texas

May 6 through May 8, 2009.

We made it back down to one of our favorite places to do some R&R, Red Corral Ranch (RCR) near Wimberly, TX. This is huge ranch where many events take place. Weekends in the spring are often for weddings. Yet, during the week it is possible to spend two or three days in a cabin deep in the woods, and to wander about the woods and fields and not see another human being. This was exactly our plan, and we took advantage of these dates.

We have been coming to this place for several years because it is Golden Cheek Warbler and Black Capped Vireo habitat. And this visit is the first in which I was rewarded with a sighting of the Golden Cheeked. I did not find him in the usual place but about 100 yards down the road from our cabin, a beautiful bird. I have seen these in other places, but this was a first for the RCR. The five best species of birds seen on this trip have to be Summer Tanagers (both male and female), Painted Buntings (both male and female), Ladder Backed Woodpeckers, Lark Sparrow and the Golden Cheeked Warbler. Below is a list of the birds seen or heard.

Northern Cardinal
Carolina Wren
Black Capped race of Tufted Titmouse
White Eyed Vireo
House Finch
Carolina Chickadee
Black Vulture
Bewick’s Wren
Hummingbird sp.
Ladder Backed Woodpecker
Mourning Dove
Brown Headed Cowbird
Summer Tanager
Barn Swallow
Painted Bunting
Nashville Warbler
Turkey Vulture
Lark Sparrow
Red Winged Blackbird
Gray Catbird
Song Sparrow
Red Eyed Vireo
Golden Cheeked Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Yellow Billed Cuckoo

Afternoon Blues

The end of April and beginning of May are superb birding times in our neck of the woods. The recent storms have produced a fallout. In and around Lake Waco we are finding migrating Blue Grosbeaks, Orioles and Warblers. This Blue Grosbeak was found on the eastern side of the lake near Lakeshore Drive. Photo by Bill Ravenscroft.