My backyard is bursting with baby woodpeckers, especially the Red-bellied variety.

Yesterday’s post featured an adult male bird who brought his youngster to the yard for some drinking and bathing lessons.  Today, a different duo showed up to share a bit of breakfast.  They started off clinging to the side of a tree near the edge of the yard.

You can tell it is a different pair than the one in the previous post because this adult has feathers missing around his eye and beak…

…and the little one has a totally gray head, with no hint of red.  I’m honestly not sure if it is a male or a female, but for the sake of this post, we’re dubbing her a daughter!

Once he felt certain that all was safe, Dad flew over and landed on the Bark Butter Branch.

 

I really need to pause here, and tell you that this branch is a new addition to my bird luring repertoire.  While out on a neighborhood walk Saturday evening, I spied with my little eyes this beautiful dead limb.  With only a minimal amount of pleading (on my part, not his) my household hero hoisted it up onto his shoulder and lugged it the half mile it took to get back home.  Then he cut it down to the right size, drilled five holes on the side for me to stuff with Bark Butter, and helped me bungee cord it to the rail. That man sure knows how to speak my love language!

And now…back to our regularly scheduled post…

The young woodpecker wasted no time in following Dad over to this lovely new limb, where she was promptly rewarded with a heaping helping of food.

After several beak to beak deliveries, Dad scooped up one more portion and they flew off to the other side of the yard.

You really can’t beat this for entertainment!