We have a family of acorn woodpeckers living on our property in southern Oregon. They eat from the bird feeders, hummingbird feeders, suet holders, and cat kibble. The cats are feral and cannot reach the bird feeders. They are interesting to watch, especially when they squabble among themselves. They seem to be dominate over all the other birds except the stellar jays.

First, I was most surprised to learn there are over 200 species around the world. Secondly, I was surprised to see so many brightly colored woodpeckers !  I would think the brighter colored ones would be more vulnerable to predation; but perhaps not as they have survived through thousands of years. Great material though.  I really enjoyed this first chapter overview of Woodpeckers.

I was surprised to learn that woodpeckers live in the tropics. Although it seems obvious, it never crossed my mind.

I didn’t realize how colorful different species of woodpeckers are. Living in Virginia, I typically think of woodpeckers as mostly black, white, and red.

I was surprised to learn about the quirky habits of the acorn woodpecker! I've seen them in Belize and Arizona but didn't know about their habit of obsessing over storing their acorns in granaries.

Red-bellied woodpecker’s toes, foot open, on banding day (photo by Kate St. John). Woodpecker Toes: Interesting feature: Their short legs usually have four toes, two pointed forward and two pointed backward, and sharp claws which enable them to cling easily to tree trunks and branches. What a increible support tool.

What surprised me most about all these woodpeckers is how similar certain species are despite being distantly related! I was aware at how similar Downey and Hairy Woodpeckers were, but I didn't know there were other examples as well!

I'm most surprised by how eclectic their diet is! I never knew, until getting through the "What Else Is on the Menu?: Other Animal Proteins " section, that they also eat small animals (including other birds' eggs, nestlings, and carrion).  I'm truly fascinated by their adaptability and advantages they enjoy.

Woodpeckers are my favorite birds. I had no idea how many species world-wide there are! This may sound silly bud I have also always been fascinated in the search for the possibly still extant ivory-billed woodpecker. My word for this week has been zygodactyl!

I found the acorn woodpecker fascinating and surprising! They create social groups/families that resemble crow families where younger generations help rear fledglings. Also, I was surprised by how they constructed, maintained, and protected granaries. It was so fascinating!

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The thing that surprised me the most was the number of species of woodpeckers across the world.  I never realized how many different species there were.  I was only thinking about species in the United States and never realized the color change and adaptivity of those outside the United States.  It is fascinating,

I love the bounding flight. I had always called it "undulating flight", but bounding totally makes sense!

I was surprised at the wide variation in colors of woodpeckers.  I am especially taken with the flarebacks.

I didn’t know that some of similar looking woodpeckers, such as Hairy and Downy, aren’t actually closely related, so learning about mimicry in those cases was really interesting.

I am surprised that there are "look-alike" pairs of woodpeckers all around the world.  In my area (mid-Atlantic coast) we have hairy and downy woodpeckers that look almost identical except for size, and I always wondered why they look so similar.  Now I know that there are similar pairs of look-alike woodpeckers elsewhere in the world, and it appears that even the experts can't explain why this happens.

Their toes are quite interesting however their tongues are fantastic tools for obtaining food.  The Northern Flicker is my favorite- they’re very cool to see.

I love watching woodpeckers in my yard. I have several feeders and a lot of downy and red-bellied woodpeckers. Sometimes  I'll see a hairy or red-headed (my favorite too!). I have a Northern flicker living here too and it's always a thrill to see it, especially in flight. This is such a fun, enjoyable way to learn more about them. The variety is amazing!

I am amazed at the diversity of woodpeckers and loved learning about the acorn woodpecker.  Woodpeckers have always been one of my favorite birds, and we are fortunate to be home to a lot of woodpeckers here in the sandhills of central North Carolina.  Hardly a day goes by that we don't see a red-bellied, red-headed or downy woodpecker at our feeders.  We also occasionally see a pileated woodpecker and a hairy woodpecker, and, while we haven't seen him yet this year, the red cockaded woodpecker has been a regular visitor to our feeder in the past.  We get sound ID's for Northern Flickers but they don't visit our feeder.

What fun to see the variety of beautiful woodpeckers in the world! I was surprised to learn how many species there are and see the variety of gorgeous plumage. But they all look like woodpeckers and behave in similar ways. In our Pacific Northwest yard, we have Northern Flicker, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, and Red-breasted Sapsucker. Always a day-brightener to see them. I remember seeing Acorn woodpeckers in Arizona years ago when I was visited my folks in Tucson. So fun!

I find woodpeckers so fascinating!  I am very lucky to have a yard full of them: Pileated, Downy, Hairy, Red-Bellied, Yellow Sapsucker and Northern Flickers.  I am going to go on a hunt to see Acorn Woodpeckers next time I visit California!  I guess I was surprized by how many species their are around the world, would love to see them all.

I enjoyed learning about the diversity and simularities among woodpeckers the photography in this course is stunning.  What surprised me the most was the flight pattern.  I'll be watching to see if I can spot that pattern in my area.

I was surprised that there were that many species of woodpeckers and the bright colours that some of them have.

My most frequent visitor to my suet feeders are my Downy and Hairy woodpeckers. Occasionally I will have a red bellied and flicker come through. They do well here in the upper Midwest in spite of the cold winter They will also get on my window feeders and will eat seed on occasion Wonderful birds to watch

Living in south-eastern Pennsylvania, there are several types of woodpeckers that are often observed, either at our feeders or when hiking in the many wooded areas near our home.  That being said, I was interested to learn about Wrynecks and Piculets and how they are relatives of woodpeckers.  You wouldn't think that by looking at them.  It was also surprising to learn that not all woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet.