The Pterodactyls of the Yahd.

We have a dead tree on the edge of our yard. Pieces of it fall off every year (usually after a summer storm), and all that’s left is the trunk. We keep talking about taking it down…but there’s an apartment complex in it now 🙂

Red-bellied woodpeckers are oddly named, as they’ve got red HEADS and WHITE bellies. When I try to tell people what they are, I always get corrected. “Don’t you mean red-HEADED woodpecker??” No, I do not. 😛 The first time one swooped down into our bird feeder, I thought it was a pterodactyl. They are so much bigger than any of the other birds that visit our feeder.

They have a really unique and recognizable call…like an alto-ish trill. Check it out in the link above (the “kwirr”, they call it)…once you hear it, you might notice you’ve got a few in your yard as well, even if you can’t see them. 🙂

Here are pictures of the Woodpecker Apartments…the top pick on the left is the current resident (but from a distance because I couldn’t get my camera out quick enough)…and the bottom left is a better pic of a red-bellied woodpecker that was in our feeder over the winter. So purdy.