Woodpeckers expanding their range

Recently, I received an e-mail from John Frawley in Hampden. He and his wife live on the banks of the Penobscot River, enjoying the many benefits of the location.

“We maintain a platform feeder, a thistle feeder and a suet feeder outside our dining room window, which draw a wide variety of birds. The suet regularly draws downy and hairy woodpeckers, but also is occasionally visited by a red-bellied woodpecker,” John wrote. “I have seen these birds in Florida, but my Audubon book indicates that they only range as far north as southern New England.

“My question is: are sightings in this area common?”

I knew there had been increasingly numerous sightings of these woodpeckers over the last several years. Looking back at my previous columns, I saw the last time I’d written about this bird was, interestingly enough, around this time of the year three years ago. And back then, as is the case now, it was the result of an e-mail from another reader.

Not surprisingly, people are impressed when they see this bird. It does not resemble our most common resident woodpeckers – the downy, hairy, and pileated woodpeckers – in the slightest. It is quite exotic looking. The “Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds,” describes it as “zebra backed,” with a red cap and nape; females have the red nape but lack the red cap on the top of the head. Both the male and female have an unmarked chest and belly, with just the slightest reddish-yellow wash to the plumage.

At this time of the year, too, our most common woodpeckers tend to become more visible among the foliage-bereft trees. They may also visit feeders more often, as they stockpile seed for the winter months ahead.

Our other more common woodpeckers – the yellow bellied sapsucker and the northern flicker – have migrated farther south. In addition, two of Maine’s less common woodpeckers – the American three-toed woodpecker and the black-backed woodpecker – are much more elusive and occupy more specialized habitats.

So, it’s little wonder that an unusual woodpecker would make such an impression; an impression that is greatly helped by its boldness.

In an e-mail sent to me those years ago, Al and Linda Curran, in Brewer, had noted of their visiting red-bellied woodpecker that, “he and the blue jays will go beak to beak for the seeds. He can hold his own with the jays.”

Considering blue jays are the bullies of the backyard feeder lot, this is quite a compliment.

Red-bellied woodpeckers seem to naturally call attention to themselves. I had observed these birds many times on visits to New Jersey, and they were hard to miss. They are larger than the downy and hairy woodpeckers, and not as shy about calling attention to themselves as it seems the larger pileated woodpeckers are. Their loud, strident “kwirr,” or “cha,” calls are given enthusiastically and repeatedly as they move about; they are very vocal year-round.

After the Currans’ query, I had e-mailed the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “Project FeederWatch,” leader, Dr. David Bonter, regarding the bird’s range expansion.

“In Maine, we have 120 participants [of Project FeederWatch] reporting [in 2004]. Last season only a few red-bellied woodpeckers were reported; back in the mid-1990s, the species was not reported in Maine. While populations are still small in Maine, we do know that red-bellied woodpeckers are moving north,” he said.

There seems to be three main reasons for this bird’s expansion. First, they are habitat generalists; they are not limited to a certain habitat for nesting and foraging requirements. Second, maturing forests in the Northeast have provided them with increased nesting and foraging opportunities; and third, an increase in backyard feeding stations is also thought by ornithologists to be a factor, according to “The Birds of North America,” species account.

As I read through a second correspondence with Mr. Frawley, I was struck by his astute observations of the many changes in bird life and plant life that have taken place over the last 25 years in his locale. Some of the changes were good; some not so good.

I’d like to think this is one of the good ones.

BDN bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net