Red-bellied Woodpeckers Gathering and Stashing Berries
I spent many hours over the past couple months watching and photographing the huge number of Red-bellied Woodpeckers so easy to find in Everglades City. I’ve never in my life seen so many of them in one small area.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpeckers
I’m not sure the species of palm tree that produces the black/blue/purple berries, but I do know the Red-bellied Woodpeckers know and love them. An area mid-town was superb for watching them. They cleaned off those area palm tree berries when they ripened in a couple of weeks.
Swoop in, hang from the berry branch, pluck the berry, then swiftly fly away to other nearby palm trees that hosted their nest and stash them all around it in the tree’s bark. Literally, pushing and pounding them into holes and crevices on their nest tree. Then fly back for another!
Red-Bellied Woodpeckers gathering and stashing berries
You ever take a photo with poor exposure results but just can’t trash it for one reason or another?
Here’s one of mine, shot in the shade with poor exposure. But it looked too adorable to trash. So I played a little with it in black and white and presto! It became worthy of saving!
Red-bellied Woodpecker
For those curious on what the original photo looked like, here you go.
And to think, I almost deleted it…..
Photos by Donna 
Very nice! Love the black and white photo too. Beautiful bird on a beautiful day! William — “What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.” Psalms 104 The Message
Thank you, William! 😊
Oh my goodness, that is a fabulous B&W, Donna! What fun to watch the woodpeckers going about their business in the palm trees.
Thank you, Ellen! I sometimes just sat and watched them, they were so entertaining and fast. 🙂
Captured amazing moments of these beauties, Donna!
Thank you, Indira!
Awesome photos! Love the black and white! The absence of colour really makes you pay attention to shape and form, which are beautiful.
Thank you! I am a lover of colors, but I do try to dabble in B&W here and there. I was surprisingly impressed with this attempt! Makes me want to try more often. 🙂
I knew Ellen would be commenting 😂😂😂, I often lose her on a trail when she spots a Red-bellied. And yes, that B&W is excellent.
Those Palm berries, people make a jelly from them. Taste is very close to fig.
Ellen and I chase the same birds! 😉 Thanks, Ted! I tried to ID the palm tree but found a couple species that had similar berries and gave up, not my specialty…. 😉 But I did read they are edible and make a great jelly. No wonder the Red-bellies love them!
In Corkscrew I saw a Palm Tree almost dancing. Looked around it and found two Raccoons stuffing their faces on those berries.
Neighbor made the jelly and gave us some. She is also originally from NY and loves the idea she has Palm Trees. Made jelly and it was good 🙂
Cool on both accounts! I’d love to try palm tree jelly, I’ll be looking for it in my travels now. 🙂
And BTW, I do chase your gators too. 😉
Figured you did…LOL
I’ve never seen this woodpecker. What a treat to see them and your image quality here is stunning, Donna!
Thank you, Deborah! It took a lot of shots to get some good ones, they were fast and sometimes hiding behind fronds, messing up my op. I loved the challenge! 😉
What great and colorful pictures, Donna. And also a good reminder to me to try black and white more often. I get so wrapped up in the colors of a photo that I forget the impact that black and white can have. Thanks for sharing and for the reminder – especially on how to perk up a less than perfect photo!
Thank you, Susan! I’m a lover of colors too, but sometimes I like to try dabbling with B&W. I usually delete too fast; with the number of photos I take, I can’t save every one of them. If a photo catches my eye, I do try and see if it’ll work. Sometimes it does, sometimes it still gets trashed, lol.
I love these birds, and what a feast he has for eating. And the black and white photo turned out perfect. I really like it.
Thank you, Sandra! There were so many in that small area, I sat many times in my golf cart and just watched them for fun and study. 🙂
I’ve only seen this kind of woodpecker once. How amazing to see so many enjoying those berries. Wonderful series, Donna!
Thank you, Belinda! I really had a fun time even just sitting and watching them in action. 🙂
Beautiful series, Donna. Such pretty birds. I love how you’ve captured his eating process. Love the B&W!
Thank you, Jane, they are quite the acrobats! 🙂
Great set of images and the B&W is lovely. I often use B&W to save badly exposed pictures…(Suzanne)
Thank you, Suzanne! I can see me now not wanting to trash too many photos…..just in case. 😉
I especially love those black and white photos. They’re fabulous! 😊
Thank you, Mike! With the last one’s results, I’ll never want to trash another photo…..just in case! 🙂
That last one is a very special photo. I’d get it framed and put it on the wall if I were you! 👍😊
Thank you, Mike, I just might! 😊
Definitely worth saving, Donna! That last photo looks very elegant. And those red bellies are SO adorable. Can you believe that I have seen only ONE of them in my life?! That was in Pueblo, Colorado, 2 years ago and it was a lifer for me then. I need to get out more often! 🙂
Thank you, Tanja! Love your comment the B&W looks elegant, I think that too, I’m so tickled with that shot. Now I’ll never trash a photo again. 😉 I’d have loved to show you this location for you to see them everywhere all at once, at least a couple dozen amongst all the trees. It was amazing!
I can imagine what a heartwarming experience that would be, Donna.
As far as never trashing any more photos, you might need to invest in a more capacious storage unit. 🙂
I’m covered on storage capacity. For a while….. 🙂
You have great shots here. This is a bird that we don’t have here, so enjoying seeing all the different species that you have posted.
Thank you, Jane! It’s been a joy to see and share the many birds I’ve never photographed before, as well as many that I’ve only seen once or twice prior. And then all my ‘familiars’ too! South Florida is indeed a birder’s paradise!
Fantastic, Donna. I had no idea that woodpeckers behave like squirrels!😁
Thank you, Imorgana! 😉
That last one was definitely worth saving. 😉
Thank you, Irene! 😊
Love the two mono shots, they work really well.
Thank you, Brian!
Awww cute
Thank you!
Awww cute
Thank you!
My pleasure
Nice save, looks good! I’ve tried that more than once and it doesn’t always work but when it does, and it’s a picture you really want, it’s a great feeling.
Thank you, David! I was trying out a couple other iffy photos today and no success. But it’s great to have one work out pretty nice, you just never know! 🙂
The Red-bellied Woodpeckers are indeed all over Florida. They pick fruits from palm trees mostly and some other plants. Your photos are excellent as always, the B&W you worked on is definitely a keeper. Can’t wait to visit Florida again. 🙂
Thank you, HJ! Florida’s birds are waiting for you! 🙂
Good editing work on that black and white picture.
Thank you, Tom!
This is beautiful bird, one my favorites from your land. You have showcased it beautifully also.
Thank you, Ashley! I had a lot of fun watching them and already miss them. 🙂
Amazing, I didn’t know that they cache food. Like acorn woodpeckers. Great shots, Donna!
I saw a pair yesterday doing a mating dance, flitting out and back and then spirling up a tree trunk. It went on and on until I finally gave up watching. Very cool birds!
Thank you, Eliza, I learned about this behavior myself from seeing this. 🙂 I also saw pairs spiraling up a tree too, just like you said! Tried hard to get a photo, they moved so fast in their fancy. I’ll review again those photos to see if any are sharable.
I LOVE that B&W. Nothing wrong with it at all. It’s gorgeous, here on my laptop. I posted a photo of a young deer. My Samsung doesn’t do all that well with distance. When I zoomed in on the picture before posting it, it blurred (naturally). However, I posted it, anyway, because it had a lovely painting look to it. Happy accidents!
Woodpeckers fascinate me. So do Finches and Wrens. They are so cute and agile.
Thank you, Vic! I should have shown the actual photo, so I just uploaded it to the bottom of the post if you’d like to see it. Big difference and what a save! 😝 Makes me to double think deleting any photos with an adorable appeal. 🙂
The original is lovely, too. That is a terrific silhouette of the bird with the berry in its mouth. I like both!
You are a stunning photographer and have “the eye”. Besides, it’s not an exact science. It is art…totally. ❤
Awwww….you’re so kind, Vic. ❤
😀 *hugs*