{"id":114563,"date":"2023-07-20T01:33:20","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T07:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=114563"},"modified":"2023-07-20T05:22:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T11:22:46","slug":"red-headed-woodpecker-photos-from-sequoyah-nwr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/20\/red-headed-woodpecker-photos-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-headed Woodpecker Photos From Sequoyah NWR"},"content":{"rendered":"

These Red-headed Woodpecker photos were taken last month at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>. I had one great day with this species in two spots on the refuge.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Red-headed Woodpecker in Oklahoma<\/span><\/p>\n

In one location on the refuge, Red-headed Woodpeckers were nesting in a dead tree, while in the other, a woodpecker was catching and chasing after mayflies.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed watching the adult Red-headed Woodpeckers bring food to their young in the nesting cavity. The assortment of food was interesting because the parents brought both fruit and insects to their nestlings. Several times, I saw blackberries in the bills of the adults and also a round, blueberry-like fruit. The insects appeared to be beetles, mayflies, and other winged insects.<\/p>\n

The first four photos in the gallery below were from the nesting tree; the others were from a section of the refuge where a cottonwood had tipped over close to the road and was still alive.<\/p>\n

If you are viewing this on a desktop device click on the first photo in the gallery to open it larger and to scroll through the rest.<\/p>\n

\"Red-headed<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Red-headed<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Red-headed<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Red-headed<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Red-headed<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Red-headed<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Perky<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Back<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
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<\/div>
<\/div>\n

As much as I liked the close-up images I took of the Red-headed Woodpeckers, I also wanted to include the first four shots, showcasing the nesting cavity. I find it fascinating that this species creates nesting cavities in both dead and alive trees.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Red-headed Woodpecker at Sequoyah NWR<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
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I’m thrilled that I was able to take so many photos of Red-headed Woodpeckers while visiting my friend Steve<\/span><\/a>. I even saw one in his yard, but it was too far away to photograph. I hadn’t photographed this species since I lived in Florida, which seems so very long ago. I can’t say that I “got my fill” of Red-headed Woodpeckers, but I did find delight in having them in my viewfinder again!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-headed Woodpecker photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These Red-headed Woodpecker photos were taken last month at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. I had one great day with this species in two spots on the refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,13973,14001,13974],"tags":[4004,13985,13984,6577,10494,4992,6583,14002,4075,3976,2580,6426,14003,4018,8453,165,4427,12949,4777,2146],"class_list":["post-114563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-red-headed-woodpeckers","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-branches","tag-cottonwood","tag-dead","tag-leaves","tag-melanerpes-erythrocephalus","tag-nest","tag-nesting","tag-nesting-cavity","tag-nesting-cavity-tree","tag-red-headed-woodpecker","tag-sky","tag-snag","tag-spring","tag-tree","tag-trunk","tag-woodpecker","tag-woodpeckers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/red-headed-woodpecker-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-9310.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tNN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":142167,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/29\/red-headed-woodpecker-nesting-season-is-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":114563,"position":0},"title":"Red-headed Woodpecker Nesting Season Is On!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Five days ago I was very happy to photograph and take Red-headed Woodpecker videos at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge on a bright morning in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-headed Woodpecker at their nesting cavity, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-headed-woopecker-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-0949.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-headed-woopecker-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-0949.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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