Among all the interesting new things I learned, I was pleased to find that the Red-headed Woodpecker is Prof. McGowan’s favorite.  It is one of my favorite birds, period.  A couple live in my neighborhood.  This past year I finally attracted them to my feeder station.  Next goal is to attract them to a nest box in my yard.  I have researched nest boxes for Red-headed Woodpeckers and tried to build and place my box in just the right way. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to enhance my chances.

Learning that there are no woodpeckers in Australia and New Zealand was a surprise since they have some of the coolest birds. I also enjoyed watching the acorn woodpeckers in Arizona when we birded there a couple of years ago. So much fun!

I hadn't realized that the sapsuckers migrated such long distances.  We only see them occasionally.  We are fortunate to have a pair of red headed woodpeckers that nest in a dead tree in our swamp every year.

The incredible variety in some species, and the incredible similarities in others.

The amazing colors and variety of colors that both males and females display.

I live in Belgium and am fortunate to have a few EurasianWrynecks nesting close to where I live. They are rare here. Early April they come back from Sub-Saharian Africa to establish their territories and nest. They migrate back to Africa in August. It is very interesting to see a migrating woodpecker (even if you could say it is not a true woodpecker) and it is also a master of camouflage.

that any bird can drum 36 times in one second is incredible!

I was surprised by just how much look-alike woodpeckers there are in the world. I liked learning about the Acorn Woodpecker. It's amazing how much diversity there is.

Frankly, it was the Downy and Hairy that surprised me.  In eastern central Missouri, I have always assumed I'm seeing Downies, but I may have to look more closely.  They do come to my feeder.

I agree about the Red-Heads.  They are my favorites.

 

I live in Massachusetts, and go birding often. To me, the most amazing woodpecker is the Pileated Woodpecker. It is almost strong as a raptor. If you have seen one, you understand what I mean. You notice its' presence with drama. And you would note, it is one strong bird. A bill like a strong chisel. Tougher to find, than downy, hairy, or flickers. And I got 2-3 close up photos about two years ago. Only time I got  really HQ photos of one. Really was like photographing a Coopers Hawk, dramatic !

In the first video of 'Exceptional Woodpeckers', it is mentioned that a couple of groups of woodpeckers have lost the small hind toe and have only 3 toes. And a 'Black-rumped flameback' is shown as an example. I investigated few images of this bird and could see only 3 toes. But during online search I could not find this specific characteristic of this bird written explicitly.  Can someone share link to the article / paper mentioning this. Also, I am curious to know which all groups / species of woodpeckers have got only 3 toes.   Thank you !

I found the mimicry across the world interesting, especially since scientist don't fully know why. I guess just sometimes copying someone bigger or more aggressive works :)

Can't stop chuckling about the acorn woodpecker. I have downys, hairys, pileateds, and red bellied woodpeckers at my house, and once in a while a red headed one, too. Plus I have northern flickers. But now I wish I lived on the west coast and could see the acorn woodpeckers' granaries. What an odd bird!

Fun!

 

It was so fun to learn about how many different woodpeckers there are across the world, and how different and varied they can look from each other. I was familiar with how similar downy and hairy woodpeckers look, so it was intriguing to learn that there are plenty more instances of almost identical-looking yet not closely related pairs of woodpecker species across the globe. I loved learning about the Acorn Woodpecker and their unique behavior too, makes me want to travel and see some in-person and watch them maintain their granaries!

Wow! So many beautiful woodpeckers. Here, where I live, we are privileged to have 6 different species of woodpecker, hairy, downy, red-bellied, northern flicker, yellow-bellied sapsucker, and pleated. I consider myself very lucky.

I was surprised by the different behaviors of some woodpeckers. I had never heard of woodpeckers that live on rocks. Here in Brazil I have some favorite woodpecker species. In April/2028 I went to a place called "Trilha dos Tucanos" in Tapiraí (São Paulo State, Brazil) specially to see in person and photograph this beautiful woodpecker called Benedito-de-testa-amarela (Melanerpes flavifrons) that lives in flocks in the Atlantic Forest, they enchanted me.

I had no idea that there were such colourful woodpeckers around the world and that some did not have any red at all! The Piculet is also a type that I have never heard of before and I was sad t0 hear that there are some extinct woodpeckers. I did more research after to find out more about them, since I found the species very intriguing.

I didn't know that a piculet was the smallest "true woodpecker"

I didn't realize how many species there are and how different they can look. Related-looking ones not being related was a surprise. And I hadn't really thought of how unusual it is that they can drill into new wood.

the graneries of the acorn woodpecker

I had never heard of piculets or wrynecks and it was amazing to see what they look like and a little bit of how they live.

Just how colorful they can be. I thought woodpeckers were all black and white with a red crown.

They can look so similar, but not be related.

This is the first course I've taken, and already I am sure it will not be my last.  Very informative and well worthwhile.