The golden-fronted woodpeckers do not migrate but some times of the year here in this part of Michoacan they are more abundant than at others. Now, they seem to be at their peak in terms of numbers, loudness, and activity. The last three days I have gone to a grove of mostly oak trees that they frequent and have spent considerable time having a blast observing them and photographing them. Also concurrently in that grove have been large numbers of Western Kingbirds and a couple of male vermilion flycatchers.

So, I decided what better time than to write an article about
the golden-fronteds; it should be written by this Thursday and released for the end of this month. They are real interesting woodpeckers in terms of behaviors. I adore seeing them perched on nopal cactus eating prickly pears.

I recently saw a woodpecker on the estate where I live. (Estate is English English for a housing development, though we do border a genuine estate - a little London pied-a-terre for a Duke and his family.) It was black and white with some spots and touch of red on the head. Spotted woodpecker And out walking along the river, I saw a green woodpecker with a red head.

But several years ago I took a group of 13-14-year-olds to the Old Observatory in Greenwich. As we were walking through the park, I shusshed them to listen for the woodpecker I could hear. Of course, it had stopped its tap-tap-tapping as soon as they were quiet. But we listen. All we can hear is a distant dog barking. Someone hesitantly suggests that it sounds like a dog. I agree, but ask them to listen a while longer.

Suddenly, the tapping starts again. This requires a hurried consultation in Spanish with one of the children whose English is still a bit iffy and elicits a loud squeal of delight "WOODY!"

Too cute. I always remember it when I visit Greenwich, though, sadly, I haven't heard a woodpecker there since that visit.

Looking forward to your article!

Hi Mona and all,

That spotted woodpecker is a beauty! Thanks for the picture. The spotted, which does not occur in Mexico, looks somewhat similar to at least one that does, the acorn woodpecker- except the clownish-looking acorn has a black patch around its eyes and its wings are all black. The picture you displayed shows really well how the woodpeckers feet are adapted to its "vertical" lifestyle.

You had mentioned the "tap-tap-tapping" of the woodpecker in Greenwich that you were trying to spot. The golden-fronted that I will be writing about never tap, peck, or hammer. Rather when tree-borne they are "bark foragers" and probe into the bark for insects or larvae. Their tongues are specially adapted and thrush out beyond their bills to snag insects.- they also can catch insects as they are flying. They are omniverous and their diet is pretty evenly split between eating insects (once in a while maybe a frog or lizard also) and fruit/seeds/nuts. They will also sometimes forage on the ground but here they really love eating the fruit off of the cactus. Even without the hammering they are vocally LOUD!

In Mexico, woodpeckers are generically called "carpinteros."

Hi,

I posted this previously at the Mexico Forum so I apologize if you had already seen this. This is about the article that I had previously mentioned that I was going to write.

There are many lively and loud birds where I live in Mexico such as Western kingbirds, groove-billed anis, social flycatchers, and American coots. However, none are as active and noisy as the visually lovely and behaviorally fascinating golden-fronted woodpeckers aka "carpinteros frentidorados."

If you would like to directly access the article, "Lively and Noisy Golden-Fronted Woodpeckers," please click the link below:

Mexico site

While walking on the hill that is just above "cemetery pond" and which is right next to the secondary school, from a bit of a distance perched on a tree no higher than 12 feet tall I saw a bird from the back in so-so lighting that at first I could not identify. Once I got the binoculars on it I was able to discern that it was a woodpecker but not one of the ones that I heard loudly calling about 150 yards away, the golden-fronteds but to my delight it was a ladder-backed. It was my first sighting of one since I saw a couple many days ago about a mile and a half from there. Their look and behavior is much different than the golden-fronted, They are about two inches smaller and have a dark eye patch. Behaviorally, from what I have observed on the few times that I have seen them is that they hunt insect prey on smaller trees at low levels and their call is on the quiet side compared to the GFs. Also, from what I saw today, when resting they perch horizonally- of the hundreds of times that I had seen GFs, I have never seen them at rest, perhaps because they do it so high up in tall trees. Tomorrow, when I do some major walking and birding (weather and mud permitting as finally rainy season has oommenced here) I will be on the lookout for more. Got excellent pictures today of the ladder-backed.

I'm working at my back porch right now and I am getting a steady stream of downy woodpeckers and hairy woodpeckers at my two suet blocks. A few weeks ago they were all bringing babies with them but now the babies seem to be eating for themselves and it's less obvious which ones are the younger ones.

We occasionally get a red bellied and a flicker, those are the other two types of woodpeckers that come to the suet. Nuthatches also share the suet but they're not woodpeckers

We have had a pair of pileated woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, and downy. We also have a red-shouldered hawk who visits periodically. The birds don't go far and I have seen them in the yard at the feeder even when the hawk is around. The crows give the hawk a hard time.

We have woodpeckers but nothing like we had in Northern MN. Those had to be the biggest woodpeckers I've seen in my life. Could chainsaw a tree in nothing flat.