Red-Bellied Woodpecker

(Photo from the web)

I had one of these guys flitting around my backyard this afternoon. They're not especially rare, but this was only my second sighting of the species. I'm not sure why a bird with red on its head and neck is called red-bellied, but there you have it. The male is pictured here, while I spotted the female, whose red begins further back on her head, somewhat behind her eyes. They're a good-sized bird, closer to the size of a Robin than to a Northern Cardinal. Mine was heftier than the one pictured. Her body was plumper and her wings made her a larger and even more dramatic coat. She was very active and very sly at trying to hide from me on the backsides of trees. But she kept popping out to feed, so I got a fine look at her.