Here is my contribution to Lisa Coleman’s weekly bird challenge which, this week is Woodpeckers. This includes Flickers, Flamebacks, Goldenbacks and Sapsuckers although I have never seen any of the latter.
We are fortunate to occasionally get Green Woodpeckers and Great Spotted Woodpeckers in our garden in Leicestershire (UK).
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- Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker – can you see its tongue?
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- Unlike most Woodpeckers, Green Woodpeckers feed on the ground
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- Green Woodpecker in our garden
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- Immature Green Woodpecker
Other Woodpeckers I have seen around the world…..
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- Andean Flicker on an island in Lake Titicaca, Peru
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- Yellow-fronted Woodpecker, Brazil
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- Grey Woodpecker, Uganda
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- Cardinal Woodpecker, Uganda
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- Black-rumped Flameback, India
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- Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, India
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- Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Costa Rica
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- Red-crowned Woodpecker (female) at her nest, Tobago
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- Chilean Flicker
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- Pale-crested Woodpecker, Brazil
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- Spot-breasted Woodpecker (male), Brazil
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- Pale-crested Woodpecker, Brazil
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- Crimson-crested Woodpecker (female), Brazil
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- Lineated Woodpecker (female), Brazil
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- Fluvous-breated Woodpecker, Nepal
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- Grey-headed Woodpecker, Nepal
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- Rufous Woodpecker, Nepal
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- Streak-throated Woodpecker (left) and Lesser Goldenback (right), Nepal
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- Grey Woodpecker, Uganda
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- Grey Woodpecker (female), Uganda
CROSSING CULTURES, FINDING FREEDOM 
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These woodpeckers are awesome! I really need to win the lottery so I can travel once the pandemic is over. Seeing new species would be a whole new lifestyle. Great gallery of images! 🙂
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Thank you, Lisa. I believe the USA has such a wide variety of environments and habitats that you have about twice the number of bird species that we have in Britain. But I agree, there are so many more to be seen in the rest of the world. I hope you get the chance one day. We didn’t start travelling until we retired and our children had all left home!
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Kids are out and have been for a while but I’m a ways from retirement. We cancelled our trip this year to Seattle. Was planning to hike Mt. Rainier.
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That’s so frustrating.
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Yep it is!
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How many species do you get in your garden? Do you live in the centre of a city? What about other wildlife in your garden, such as insects and butterflies?
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Sometimes 8-10 at a time. We have seen over 50 species around our house or on our street over the past 11 years. Maybe more that I just didn’t add to eBird.org. We live in a subdivision in town but we have yards that are on large lots with lots of trees. Plenty of cover for the small birds but it draws the predators too. We have all the insects too! Grasshoppers, butterflies, ladybugs, ants, wasps, and other critters like lizards & frogs. Last year, we had so much grass damage that a flock of white ibis came and foraged for a week and ate everything in our yard. It was the perfect natural pesticide you could ask for. 😊
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That sounds wonderful. I assume you have lots of photos. Could you do a series of your garden birds? Maybe it would encourage others to look for what birds are visiting their gardens as well as be fascinating for people like me who live in another country. Did you get photos of the White Ibis on your grass? That sounds like a treat to me!
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That sounds like a great idea! I’ve featured many of them in my Bird Weekly post but haven’t made a post about the birds in my yard. They arrive at different seasons because we are in the path of spring and fall migration. I have added it to a bird weekly for later in the year. Thank you for the suggestion. https://oureyesopen.blog/bird-weekly-challenge/
I have a photo of the white ibises. I will have to find it. Haven’t come across it. It may be on my old phone.
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That must be wonderful to be on one of the migratory routes. We are right in the middle of the UK, so don’t get many migrating birds. And being a relatively small island, circumstances can change and be so affected by weather systems in the southern Atlantic or Siberia etc.
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It is a birder’s paradise! After a while though, you get anxious to travel & see new species. That would be me right now. 😊
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I feel the same! I’m off in the campervan on Monday for three days of birdwatching and photography.
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