Home sweet home, his and mine

Red-headed woodpecker at its Riverside Park roost hole



Red-headed woodpecker with characteristic white back markings
Photos by Cal Vornberger [author of Birds of Central Park]
http://www.calvorn.com


Though this site is dedicated to nature in Central Park, here's a bird I'm including even though it's not in the park because:

1. It's an uncommon, rarely-encountered bird around here

2. Almost every serious Central Park birder has made a trip across town to Riverside Park to see this bird

and finally

3. This bird has chosen to roost, perhaps for the winter-- in a tree right outside my house.

It's a Red-headed Woodpecker. Lenore Swenson, an Early Birder, discovered it last Sunday, while covering Riverside Park for the NYC Christmas Bird Count. She called Tom Fiore, who has a special liking for Red-head Woodpeckers [I believe] and he passed the news along to the world.


Question: Why is its head brown and not at all red?

Answer. It's immature. The Riverside Park bird actually has a few red head feathers already but you can't see them on the photograph. By spring its head should turn a bright bright beautiful red.


If you want to see a nice picture of a Red-headed Woodpecker with a really red head look in your stamp box or drawer. The bird on a commonly used 2 cent stamp is a Red-headed Woodpecker..