Date: 8/23/26 6:44 pm From: Cheryl Kilpatrick <dr.k_psych...> Subject: Re: Red-headed Woodpeckers, raising a chick in central Oklahoma
Thank you for sharing your lovely photos of one of my favorite birds.
Cheryl Kilpatrick On Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 08:24:42 PM CDT, <jwdavis...> <jwdavis...> wrote:
Thank you for your report and sharing the link to your pictures documenting the woodpecker behavior. The Red-headed woodpecker selects snags without bark as a defensive behavior to reduce rat snake predation. Lakes that flood forest provideZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart External Email ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEndThank you for your report and sharing the link to your pictures documenting the woodpecker behavior. The Red-headed woodpecker selects snags without bark as a defensive behavior to reduce rat snake predation. Lakes that flood forest provide that kind of habitat for a while. If they cannot find a slick trunk snag, they will select a power pole that fits their needs. There are 85 species of birds and 49 species of mammals that need snags, and there is always a housing shortage.
My dad, Captain Sam Davis, called the Red-headed Woodpecker his fence builder. The Red-headed Woodpecker would nest in the power poles in East Texas and when the power company replaced the poles, he could buy the discarded poles for his fence corner post and thus they helped indirectly as his fence builders.
Jerry Wayne DavisHot Springs, AR
From: okbirds <OKBIRDS...> on behalf of Bryan Reynolds <nature_photo_man...>
Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2026 4:04 PM
To: <OKBIRDS...> <OKBIRDS...>
Subject: [OKBIRDS] Red-headed Woodpeckers, raising a chick in central Oklahoma All, On 9 July, I photographed a Red-headed Woodpecker at the Purcell City Lake (Cleveland County). It was perched at the top of a cut-off snag close to a picnic area. I got some shots and it flew off. I went back the next day to do some generalZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStartExternal Email ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEndAll,
On 9 July, I photographed a Red-headed Woodpecker at the Purcell City Lake (Cleveland County). It was perched at the top of a cut-off snag close to a picnic area. I got some shots and it flew off. I went back the next day to do some general bird photography, and by golly, another Red-headed Woodpecker was at the same spot. Again, I photographed it, but this time I noticed a second one nearby. That second one flew to the snag and stayed there for a bit just looking at me. Then the thought occurred that perhaps they have a nest in the snag. I repositioned my vehicle to get a better look and sure enough, there was a nest hole. So, over the next several days, I went out and photographed both the male and female flying to and from the nest hole. I even got a couple shots of them mating. After over a month of photographing them, I finally got a glimpse of the chick peeking out of the nest hole. I had hoped to get a shot of the chick with its head out of the hole and a parent feeding it, but I never saw the chick extend out of the hole. I went back again on Thursday (20th) and sat in the heat for over an hour before I noticed the chick had already fledged and was flying around the area. I could not get a shot of it, but hopefully, I'll be able to in the next few days.
A couple observations... Both parents worked to bring in food. When it was early in the feeding process, the parents came and went fairly regularly, probably every 10 minutes or so. Later in the process, it ended up being about every hour (maybe due to the heat). The larger of the two (the female?) would hang nearby in another snag and stayed in the shaded side of a limb. I would hear her pecking at the tree and for a while, I had no idea what it (she?) was doing until I noticed it pick up a mangled grasshopper. I realized, it was smashing up heavy-bodied insects and letting them sit in the sun to soften them. Then, it would take the mangled food to the nest. I noticed softer bodied prey (a few spiders and one caterpillar) were brought in straight away and whole. Another time, an offering of berries was brought in. I'm not sure, but they looked like greenbrier to me. The chick refused these.
I had a blast watching and photographing these two new parents and their baby. It was blazingly hot; to get the correct light-angle and clean photos, I had to sit in my black vehicle in direct sun with the engine off. I could barely last an hour at a time (one day it was 106), but both parents didn't stop working and both were constantly panting. To share this excitement, I've created an album in Flickr: Red-headed Woodpeckers raising a chick in central Oklahoma | Flickr
Comments are always welcome.
Take care,Bryan
Bryan E. ReynoldsPhotographer/Writer/Consultant/Speaker
My nature and wildlife photography portfolio
