A flashback from my youth appeared at our bird feeder the other day.
It was a red-headed woodpecker and it took me a second to register what I was seeing, since this is a bird I’d only glimpsed here in the North Country once before in 40 years.
I say it was a flashback because they were common in Bloomington, along the north bank of the Minnesota River where I grew up back in the 1970s. It was the height of the spread of Dutch elm disease and the abundance of large dead trees created a boon for most woodpeckers, but most notably red-headed woodpeckers. They used the trees for nesting and for storing their favorite foods. Few woodpeckers cache food, but the red-headed and the somewhat similar acorn woodpecker, are two that do.
Acorns make up a significant part of the red-headed woodpecker’s diet as well, and the combination of dead elm and huge spreading bur oaks that dominated our suburban neighborhood back then was the ideal habitat for these spectacular birds.
Northeastern Minnesota is supposed to be outside their range, but I’ve noticed that we’re seeing other birds moving further north this year, or arriving earlier, likely due to our unusually warm winter.
There have been multiple reports of red-headed woodpeckers showing up this month in our area, including both in Cook and Ely, so it certainly appears that they are moving into our region. I suspect it may not represent a permanent range adjustment. Birds are very mobile and they don’t always stay within the boundaries we recognize.
The bird that showed up at our feeder fed actively all day, taking a single sunflower seed each time and flying to a nearby tree, where it would wedge it in a crevice before pecking out the meat. He must have done this at least 50 times during the day (that I saw), which led me to think he’d be back for more the following day. But I haven’t seen it since, suggesting it has moved on... so keep an eye out. It might show up at your bird feeder next!