Welcome to Week #27 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #27 challenge is Birds with Red Feathers.
Thought as we approached the holidays, red was a good color! Now, I know many of you will post Northern Cardinals and I can’t wait. I have some today, myself. Next week is Birds near the water or snow. I’m hoping some of you have cardinals in the snow because I sure don’t.
The feature image is a Pileated Woodpecker. The old Woody Woodpecker himself. More information on him below. Keep scrolling!
Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinals are found in much of North America but not in most of the northwestern states. They can be seen off the mainland in Hawaii and Bermuda plus Central America. Within a couple of weeks of the time to build a nest, the female starts looking for possible sights. The male tags along behind her. He is her support system. The male and female will hold nesting material in their bills while calling back and forth as they assess each site. So when you hear one in one tree and another in a tree tweeting across the way and it is mating season, chances are they are in search mode for a home for their next brood.
Painted Bunting
Thought I would give you another look at the the Painted Bunting this week. This guy was gorging at the feeder located near the Ranger’s Station at Little Talbot Island State Park in Jacksonville, Florida.
House Finch
The House Finch is a North America bird that can also be found in Hawaii. They get along well with other song birds such as other finches, titmouse, chickadee, cardinals and others. They play nice with others and share the food at the feeders. They prefer the small, black oil sunflower seed. This bird was originally a bird of the western United States and Mexico. A few House Finches were turned loose on Long Island, New York in 1940 after many failed attempts to sell them as caged birds. They began to thrive and expanded their range into Canada and throughout the Eastern United States. The red of the male, seen above, comes from the pigments contained in its food during molt. The more pigment in the food, the redder the male. This one has been eating some dark pigment food. Females prefer to mate with the reddest males. Possibly because it gives them the greatest chance of a male to do his part in feeding the young.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
This Red-bellied Woodpecker let me go outside, sit on a rock about 6 feet from the feeders while he flew back and forth about 30 times from the feeders to the Palm Tree. He was stocking up for the winter. Totally oblivious that I was there or maybe just didn’t care. He was on a mission! This was my 15 minute break last Sunday and it was wonderful to be outside and capture this moment.
Red-headed Woodpecker
The Red-headed Woodpecker will occasionally visit feeders in the winter but I’ve never had one at my feeders. They prefer suet! We had to drive all the way to Georgia to the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge to see this one. We saw 10 in all that day.
Red-winged Blackbird
The Red-winged Blackbird is predominant throughout North America. This male is quite striking in his silky black feathers with a spot of red and yellow, while the female is similar to most sparrows in color. She is a streaky brown. They can be found almost anywhere but are found in great numbers in marshes and wetlands. This one posed up right nicely while singing loudly at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge near Tallahassee, Florida.
Red Crossbill
The Red Crossbill was on my target list when we visited Yellowstone National Park in September, 2019. This bird is in the finch family but the the bottom and top bills overlap allowing them to break unopened cones that give them an advantage over other finch species. They are quite adaptable and will nest wherever and whenever there is an abundant amount of food, sometimes even in the winter. There were a pair by the stone bed along the Yellowstone River while we were having a picnic lunch. This was the best of the photos. Life bird right here!
Pileated Woodpecker
The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America. They will sometimes visit backyard bird feeders, especially for suet. If you have a dead or dying tree on your property, consider leaving it as long as it isn’t a danger to property damage. The woodpeckers, along with nuthatches will forage and roost in these dead or dying trees.
Vermilion Flycatcher
Talk about a red feathered bird. The Vermilion Flycatcher’s genus name is Pyrocephalus which translates to “fire-headed”. There are 12 subspecies of the Vermilion Flycatcher that are found in the southwestern US down to Chile in South America. The male will bring a gift, such as a butterfly or flashy insect to the female when courting.
Cassin’s Finch
Cassin’s Finch is similar to the House Finch in color, but is found in the mountains of western North America. In the winter, they will visit feeders with sunflower seeds. Like the House Finch, the red comes from the pigments garnered from eating colorful foods like orange berries or firethorn plants. We captured this guy at Mt. Charleston just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a life bird for us at the time in 2016.
Upcoming challenges can be found on my Bird Weekly Challenge Page.
Until next week…Week #28 – Birds near or in the Water or Snow
Our Eyes Open 
Comments
75 responses to “Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds With Red Feathers”
Great photos of red feathered birds! Thanks for the challenge.
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Thanks Beth! I been thinking about it for weeks! LOL! 🙂
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Here’s my red feathered birds https://wanderingdawgs.com/2020/12/15/bird-weekly-challenge-27-birds-with-red-feathers/
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Love your selection of birds Lisa!
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Thank you Aletta! I finally found my Pileated Woodpecker photos. I wanted to use them in the Woodpecker challenge but couldn’t find them. LOL! 🙂
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I am glad I am not the only one searching for photos!
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I do every week! LOL! I will have to take a photo and include in one of these posts, but I have a waterproof holder with all my SDS cards. I’m kinda organized and kinda not. I have to look through them almost every week. Now, I try to see at least 3 weeks in advance and when I stumble on something, I save it right away to my hard drive. LOL! 🙂
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Best to do, I think🤔👍
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Such beauties. I have seen but never photographed the Pileated woodpecker. That would be a dream.
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I hope you get to one day. We have a pair living in our neighborhood and I’ve never gotten them on camera. These were taken in the woods somewhere. I don’t remember. It’s been a while. 🙂
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[…] Bird Weekly challenge, sponsored by Our Eyes […]
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Such a beautiful collection! Lovely!
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Thank you Maria! 🙂 I can’t wait to go birding in a few weeks! Being outside to capture the Red-bellied was like a breath of fresh air.
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Fabulous selection of birds! They’re all gorgeous 🙂
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Thank you Cathy. I love this challenge because birds with red feathers stick out so beautifully. 🙂
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They really do!
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😊
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Love birds with red!
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Thanks Becky. I love birds with red too! Brings a little color into our lives. 🙂
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Yes!
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[…] For Lisa´s Bird Weekly. […]
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A gorgeous collection of Red feathered birds Lisa!
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Thank you Deborah! They are so fun! 🙂
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[…] Posted for BIRD WEEKLY – PHOTO CHALLENGE – BIRDS WITH RED FEATHERS […]
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Awesome captures! I so love your red bellied woodpeckers! Here’s mine – https://myheart2heart.blog/2020/12/11/feeling-festive-2/
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Thank you Rita! Loved this challenge! 🙂
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Love the pileated woodpecker shots! They nested in our yard where I used to live. Glad you got to see the crossbills in Yellowstone. Those bills are so adapted for what they like to eat.
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Yeah, the Pileated is special. I’m glad I got to see the crossbills too. It and the magpie were my two main target birds. We picked up 14 life birds on that trip plus over 80 species total. We were not even in great birding spots either. It was amazing! 🙂
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That’s a lot of life birds! Hope to go back to Yellowstone next year. Magpies are one of my very favorite birds. They are common where I live but they’ve never been in our yard.
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It was a lot of life birds for one trip. Magpies have cursed my camera. Everyone I took was blurry. Nothing wrong with me or my camera. 😂
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That’s funny! I still don’t have a great shot of a magpie. I took one in Ireland that’s just okay.
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I don’t even have a “just okay”. Not kidding about the hex! LOL! Someone else on WP has had the same experience with the magpies too. His camera malfunctions. What???? Oh…Ireland….serious bucket list item there. I yearn to go there! 🙂
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I have several pictures of shrubs or fenceposts that are supposed to be magpies. 🙂 Yeah, my daughter and I went to Ireland right before everything shut down. Added a few more life birds. 🐦
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Yay for life birds! I so want to go to Ireland and Scotland. What’s up with the magpies?!? LOL!
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These are some beautiful photos. I would love to see a painted bunting one day. I’m not sure if they come to the coastline of Virginia
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Unless they expand their range, you are going to need to come south or west towards Texas in the summertime. They winter down in the Miami area. 🙂
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and here I thought the only red bird was a cardinal – these are such great photos of beautiful birds…
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Thanks Jim. Expanding your knowledge…loving that! LOL! There are even more red birds but I didn’t have the time to get to them. Always another challenge around the bend. 🙂
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it’s always a good day when you learn something new…
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It absolutely is! 😊
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[…] BirdWeekly:…With-Red-Feathers […]
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[…] The Bird Weekly Photo Challenge: Birds With Red Feathers […]
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Great gallery and info Lisa 🙂
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Thanks Brian! It was fun to get away from work for a few hours to do the blog. Plus some of these photos were actually taken last Sunday. I got outside for about 15 minutes. Watch out! LOL! 🙂
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What a lovely post! And I learned several new bird facts! Thank you Lisa! 😊 …and of course the photos are beautiful!
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Thank you Lisa! That means I’m doing my job…um no not a job…well, you get it! LOL! I hope to inspire and teach a tiny new thing every week. 🙂
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[…] Bird Weekly […]
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These are beautiful pictures, I wholeheartedly agree with you that if a dying tree is not a threat we should leave it.
I had a coconut tree that was struck by lightning, the leaves eventually fell off but the trunk remained for years. After a while woodpeckers flocked to it and started drilling holes. It seems they were eating insects in the decaying wood. Over the years the trunk broke off bit by bit and now a small stump remains.
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Perfect example! Glad they enjoyed it as long as they did. 😊
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[…] If you would like to join in on the challenge – you can find the info here – https://oureyesopen.blog/2020/12/11/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-with-red-feathers/ […]
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Here is my photo for the week
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[…] The theme for this week’s Bird Weekly Challenge, hosted by Our Eyes Open, is Birds With Red Feathers. […]
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[…] Birds Weekly: https://oureyesopen.blog/2020/12/11/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-with-red-feathers/ […]
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[…] I continue to identify more birds, I decided to post for Lisa Coleman’s photo challenge this week: Birds with Red […]
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[…] is my entry for Lisa’s from Our Eyes Open blog, Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge with the topic of Birds with Red Feathers. Same bird different […]
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As always your photos are spectacular. 😀 😀
I only have one bird with red feathers. Enjoy!
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Thanks Cee! I’m getting back to a little bit of the blog now. The holiday rush as slowed. Not sure if it will last, but I have a moment to breathe. I loved your one bird! 🙂
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[…] With thanks to Lisa Coleman for the challenge. […]
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The Painted Bunting is gorgeous!
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Thank you, Ark! Welcome to Bird Weekly! 🙂
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We get a lot of Cardinals, male and female. THIS year, they are orange and being tracked by Cornell since they found a breeding group of orange Cardinals in North Carolina, too. They are still trying to figure out WHY they are orange. Is it the food or is it a genuine genetic feather color switch?
I have seen that Pileated Woodpecker on our property three time clearly and several times moving so fast I barely caught him. We have quite a few dying trees on the property and we leave them there because hauling them out is awfully expensive, but also they are great sites for woodpeckers and other small creature. We have, as a result, a lot of woodpeckers. Downy, Hairy, Red-Bellied, and Pileated. The Pileated one is really BIG. Impressive, even quite a distance away. I have bever gotten a picture of him, but at least I’ve gotten to see him.
The red House Finches showed up here about three years ago and have settled in with the Goldfinches. Sometimes we get a flock of mixed Goldfinch and House Finch. The House Finches are noticeably bigger than the Gold finch.
I’ll have a gallery post up tomorrow 🙂
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I’d love to see those orange Cardinals. I’ve been hearing about them. Is Cornell considering them a different bird for the the life list? I guess that will all be decided eventually by the experts.
Happy to hear you have rotted trees that the woodpeckers can enjoy. They will eventually take them down for you, free of charge. LOL!
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[…] BIRD WEEKLY – PHOTO CHALLENGE – BIRDS WITH RED FEATHERS […]
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[…] Red Feathers […]
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What a beautiful selection you have! Love the Woodpeckers
https://dailymusing57.com/2020/12/15/bird-weekly-birds-with-red-feathers/
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Thank you very much! 🙂
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[…] The challenge is set by Lisa Coleman over on her blog. Hope this link works. https://oureyesopen.blog/2020/12/11/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-with-red-feathers/ […]
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Hi, never done a challenge before so I hope the link works ok. Posted some UK birds on my blog, hope you like them https://blhphotoblog.wordpress.com/
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The link worked perfectly! So glad you decided to join us and am honored that Bird Weekly is your first challenge. We have a lot of fun and get to see what each other is seeing. Your birds were fabulous! 🙂
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[…] Thank you Lisa. for this Bird Weekly Challenge #27: Birds with Red Feathers […]
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Don’t see my pingback, so: https://teepee12.com/2020/12/15/red-bird-red-bird/
We’re supposed to get a foot or more or snow tomorrow night and Thursday. Can’t say I’m really happy about that.
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I’ve been behind. I just approved it. Sorry about that. Holiday rush! I’m finally slowing down to a “normal” status. 🙂 A foot of snow. Holy cow! But, just in time for the next bird challenge. Especially if you can give me birds in the snow. hehehe!
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Oh my gosh, I think I’ve missed the red-feathered bid week, but your photos are amazing. I’d love to see birds like this in my trees; they’re stunning!
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Thank you very much and you haven’t missed it. It is 5pm eastern time here right now so you have about 12 hours to get it in. As long as I have it by 6am tomorrow morning, I can get you into the round up. 🙂
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Missed the last week but couldn’t miss this week.
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