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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.

I have five different species of woodpeckers in my background and every year, I watched them establishing territories, excavating or re-using cavities and most excitedly, I get to see the fledglings and families forage around. My curiosity and love for them as lead me to take this course. I am mind-blown by  this first unit about the diversity and beauty of the family of woodpeckers! I am also making sense now of the plumage mimicry happening as I have witnessed how the Hairy woodpeckers at my feeders "get respect"; other birds will give them space to feed and so, if a Downy shows up shortly after, they will get the same space. But I have also seen them come to the feeders first and not have any privilege: then, they stick to the suet where their hanging abilities provides them with superior positioning for feeding. So it appears that looking like the more brash neighbor does have its advantage! I agree with all the comments about the Acorn Woodpecker: how fascinating! I am so looking forward to learn more about these incredible birds.

I think I was most surprised by how many different species of woodpeckers there are - and how similar some are to each other when they are not closely related. I was also fascinated to learn about the acorn woodpeckers. I've often wondered what the red-bellied woodpeckers that come to my feeders do with the unshelled peanuts they take away and how they keep the squirrels from getting them.

I very much appreciated seeing the Acorn Woodpeckers in action and learning about their social structure. I also appreciated seeing the variety of colours and also learn of the concept of mimicry. Actually, I'm having a great time following this course, thank you so much!

The sheer diversity of woodpeckers and their amazing palettes of color...their drumming and woodworking abilities...just fascinating! Definitely got a give a shout out to the acorn woodpeckers...I had a good belly laugh when I saw the amazing honeycomb of acorns in a granary. Oh...and those TONGUES!!!

A couple of  years ago I purchased a copy of "All the Birds of the World" - a rather large,  heavy book.  I was really stunned by the number of birds that looked alike though they were in many different parts of the world.  Most of them were related - in the same genus.  But it didn't really strike me until a birding trip to Belize last month - my first trip south of Florida - and I was the Golden Fronted Woodpecker and the Yucatan Woodpecker.  They both looked strikingly similar to the Red-bellied Woodpeckers in my back yard with the Yucatan being the smaller version of the other two.  In Belize I assumed it was some form of mimicry, like Hairy and Downy, but I looked them up and, unlike Hairy and Downy, all three of these are in the same genus.  They're just look-alike cousins.

The diversity in colors, ranges and sizes.

I think the movement of the wryneck and the fact that it is a woodpecker. Also that those that seem closely related were not. The colors are amazing .

Diversity, and size variation. Also the mimicry between genetically unrelated species was really interesting living in an area where that occurs in Northern California. Also I'm a big fan of acorn woodpeckers so I enjoy the explanatory video.

I was surprised at the social aspect of acorn woodpeckers' lives. We had an acorn woodpecker at a local garden last year, which is unusual in this area. He seemed to be a lone bird, but now I'm wondering if there were other birds working on the same granary.

I found it very interesting that the Piculets are still primary excavators even though they are so small, have small bills, and do not have stiff tails to allow them to brace against the trees. How do they do it!?