Red-bellied Woodpecker?

I saw an unusual woodpecker at my feeder this am (he’s perhaps been here a week or so?). When I looked him up, it looks like he’s a red-bellied woodpecker, but the book said this was outside their territory - so thought I’d ask the expert!

I live in North Ferrisburgh and have quite a few woodpeckers (mostly downy & hairy) at my feeders, as well as a pair of pileated that come back in the spring. This one is very unusual and big, and the markings are so distinct that I’m pretty sure…but wanted to know what you thought.

Thanks!

Jen

Hey Jen,

Nice sighting! I had one on the Christmas Bird Count two years ago on my St. Albans route so it is possible. In fact, data from the Christmas Bird Count shows that this woodpecker is expanding it’s range, check it out.

I created this graph by visiting the CBC website and using their Make a Graph feature, cool huh? A quick look tells you that Red-bellied Woodpeckers are being seen more on CBC’s in Vermont. And after a little quick math, if we go back where that red line really starts to pop, to let’s say the 96th CBC which was in 1996, we have a fairly significant increase in sightings over the past 16 years.

How about one more graphic for fun? Take a look at this one. Okay, click on it for a better close up version, then come back to this post.

This one is from eBird from this winter! Not bad for sightings in Vermont. And as for breeding, the Red-bellied Woodpecker became a confirmed breeder in Massachusetts in the 1990s and in just a little over 10 years finally came to breed in southern Vermont. You can read Chris Petrak’s blog post about a family discovering a nesting pair in their backyard in 2001.

Now, just because there’s all those dots on the map and the Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas confirms their nesting success in Vermont, doesn’t make it any less fabulous that you spotted this bird in your backyard! I say get a picture! Post it on eBird and become one of those little red flags and represent your bird-geekery for Ferrisburg.

And Jen…thanks for asking. I learned a lot by digging through all this data to really prove what a kinda sorta new in a very off hand way.

Bird-on!

Bridget