Author: Martin R
Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, boardgamer, geocacher and father of two. View all posts by Martin R
Great Spotted Woodpecker At My Window
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Aardvarchaeology – by Dr. Martin Rundkvist
Scandinavian archaeology, history, skepticism, books and music
Aardvarchaeology - by Dr. Martin Rundkvist 
Nice photos! Thank you for sharing. Do you make your own suet cakes?
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I looked at photos on Google and not all of them seem to feature the buff color on the breast and forehead. Is this sex, age, or regional variation?
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Thank you! I buy the suet balls for the birds. (There’s birdseed in them too. Blackbirds often sit around under the balls and pick up the seeds as they fall.) But I have been known to make suet-based puddings for human consumption.
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Or could it be seasonal variation? Doesn’t seem to be sex at any rate. This bird is a female as she lacks a red spot on her neck.
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Nice, we dont have that type here..we put shredded breads outside every evening and about 15 types of birds come for their meals.. 🙂
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Just catching on some of your earlier missives. Great entertainment over cold winters in interior Alaska: watching the several kinds of woodpeckers, chickadees, and Canada jays demolish the column of beef suet (encased in a chicken wire tube). But, something not experienced before in 50 years watching is the sight of a male hairy woodpecker teaching his young (3 last summer) how to feed from a seed feeder with a narrow, slippery plastic ledge. Much squawking and angst; but, eventually, they all learned how to hang upside down and munch on black oil sunflower seeds. 🙂
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