Red-bellied woodpeckers in the USA

This video from the USA says about itself:

Red Bellied Woodpeckers Really Have Red Bellies!

8 August 2016

The Red Bellied Woodpecker is one of the most poorly-named birds for such a strikingly beautiful and relatively common backyard woodpecker. Oddly one rarely if ever sees their namesake “red belly” with the naked eye. Even Mr. Audubon‘s painting of a red belly in his famous book does not really show the red belly.

It can be seen as in this video with extreme close-up and slow motion. The red belly is really just a little rose-colored blush of feathers way down low on the belly as you can see in this video. Perhaps the names for bright red head and ladder back were taken, but what about “zebra-backed” or white-breasted woodpecker. I vote for zebra-backed!

Related articles

• Pileated woodpecker feeds nestlings, video
• The jig is up: copycat woodpecker unmasked by genetics
• Feeding North American birds in winter
• Where American bluebirds go in winter
• California condor nest webcam on the Internet
• Dark-eyed junco nests in nestbox, a first
• Eagles, Siberian jays, nuthatches, woodpeckers, tits