The Woodpecker Forest

In the forest not too far away there is a lot of different birds. I would like to tell you about the woodpeckers first, then some other common forest birds.

The downy and hairy woodpeckers are pretty similar. The main difference is the size of the body and beak.

This video goes through all the differences. In the forest you might hear their peeping sounds before you see them.

The red headed woodpeckers are pretty rare and barely made any noise when I saw them, so you will be lucky if you find one.

The red bellied woodpeckers are more numerous and makes a lot of noise, so should be easy to find. They seem to be always angry about something.

The northern flickers certainly make a lot of noise also. I got a good look at a pair of them only once. I read that they spend a lot of time out of the forest feeding on ants on the ground.

The pileated woodpeckers are giants compared to the other woodpeckers. I also only saw these one time.

“Woodpeckers have extremely acute hearing and are capable of hearing bugs crawling around under bark. If they don’t hear them, they surely can feel the vibrations the insects create as they move about.”

This picture shows how big a woodpecker nest can be.

The friendly white breasted nuthatch will also be in the forest making lots on noise.

You might see wood ducks fly by because they use nesting hollows previously made and used by woodpeckers.

Tree swallows are one of the hundreds of different kinds of migratory birds that come north in the spring time. You will find it a very exciting time of year if you end up pursuing birding. The tree swallow also will nest in an abandoned woodpecker hollow.

Barred owls also live in the forest. They eat lots of things including other birds and four legged creatures like squirrels and rabbits.

That is some of the main birds who live in the forest but numerous other birds can be found, especially during the spring migration of birds that spend their winters in the south where it is warmer. It helps having binoculars or a monocular to get a closer look.