The bird above is a female Red-bellied Woodpecker, a common and welcome visitor to our yard. Her light red belly marking is subtle, and not visible in this photo. A male Red-bellied has a red crown in addition to the nape. When I first started birding, I decided that “Red-bellied” was a ridiculous name for this bird and so I called it the “Red-back-of-the-head” Woodpecker.
We saw this bird on Jamestown Island and at first we weren’t sure what we were looking at. My husband is the one who first suggested it might be a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker and he was correct . The adults are brilliantly colored and there’s little doubt what you’re seeing when you find one. Fortunately the black and white pattern on the back and wing of this juvenile is distinctive and unique red-headed woodpeckers. If you look closely, you can see some red feathers on his head. This fellow kept moving to the shaded side of the tree he was working. I kept moving around through the woods after him. I scared him once, but fortunately he moved only to the next tree.