On the day that the crowd of
robins visited, a parade of other birds joined them in the dogwood tree. Among them, this
Red-bellied Woodpecker male. (Click images to enlarge.)
It's always a treat when he visits the
dogwood tree, and this time was no exception. He flew into the dogwood limbs, hung upside down to pluck a berry, then flew to a nearby trunk to reposition it before swallowing.
It was this that surprised me. He used the trunk's surface to reposition the berry, so that he then held it at the tip of his bill.
With his long tongue extended, he used it in a lever-like fashion to move the berry into swallowing position.
Once the berry was gone, he scooted around the tree to forage some more. But then, paused, looked back at another dogwood berry, hung upside down and stretched his tongue out to pick up something from its surface.
A fun and intimate encounter. I hated to see him fly away. The good news--he's my neighbor!
Linked to
Bird Photography Weekly #63 at Birdfreak.com, to promote the conservation of our world's birds.
It was this that surprised me. He used the trunk's surface to reposition the berry, so that he then held it at the tip of his bill.
Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #63 at Birdfreak.com, to promote the conservation of our world's birds.
Wow, now that's a tongue! I imagine it comes in handy for not only eating berries but extracting prey form crevices in the bark and drinking sap as well.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots you have of your neighbor and what a great neighbor to have!
What a long tongue! A great series of photos.
ReplyDeleteJeee, I've never seen anything like this.
ReplyDeleteWay amazing :D!
Thanks!
Wow! Excellent capture of the woodpecker's tongue, Vickie!
ReplyDeleteWOW, cool shots of the Woodpeckers tongue. Kind of neat how they can move it aroudn teh berry.
ReplyDeleteGrea shots.
Great series!!
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos, Vickie! We've been wanting to plant dogwoods--another good reason!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Pretty cool stuff.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the W/C links - excellent bedtime reading.
Cheers
D
Vickie, you must have your camera with you every single minute - you always capture such wonderful bird behaviors "on film." This series is just great.
ReplyDeleteI love watching the behaviors most of all as I am mostly a backyard birder. We have had red-bellies bring their offspring to the suet dough feeders for the past 3 years. I love them... Michelle
ReplyDeleteI am loving your blog, Vickie! Now why hadn't I thought before about woodpeckers' tongues? Fascinating, and amazing photographs!
ReplyDelete...awesome photos capturing his tongue. I saw this last year and was amazed!! I then read about it. Your photos are killer!
ReplyDeleteI just love it when I see unusual photos like those with the tongue. Great!!
ReplyDeleteamazing photographs. I hadn't seen any clear pictures where the woodpeckers tounge is visible until this post.
ReplyDelete