An Acrobat at the Feeder

In my ongoing struggle to keep squirrels off a bird feeder (yeah, probably a lost cause), I can report that for four days now I have not seen a squirrel attacking the feeder in its new location. Instead, I have been seeing a continuous influx of different birds coming to use it.

Yesterday, as I looked outside our bedroom window, I was surprised by a returning visitor. A Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) was at the feeder, hanging on for dear life in one of those acrobatic poses. You may recall a previous post from January 2026, when I featured another similar woodpecker doing some contortion on an oak tree in our backyard. This one was not quite the same. The red on its head was not as pronounced as in that earlier bird.

The behavior was different, too. It kept flying back and forth between the feeder and a nearby oak tree. I suppose it was merely trying to find a more stable place to eat a few seeds instead of dangling from a feeder that is just too small for its size.

Among the tree shots I captured, the one above clearly shows its pink tongue. That little flash of pink is a more impressive tool than it looks. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a Red-bellied Woodpecker can stick its tongue out nearly 2 inches (5 cm) past the end of its beak. The tip is barbed, and the bird’s saliva is sticky, which helps it snatch insects from deep crevices in the bark (you can see an instance of that in the January 2026 post). Compared to that, a few seeds from a backyard feeder must feel like easy pickings.

Squirrels or no squirrels, I will take a visitor like this at the window any day.

That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Bird of the Week, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Teravista, Texas, and Wildlife. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.

Posted for I.J. Khanewala’s Birds of the Week Invitation CLXXVIII.

Source:

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds — Red-bellied Woodpecker — https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/overview