{"id":129109,"date":"2024-05-30T03:05:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T08:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=129109"},"modified":"2024-05-30T06:45:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T11:45:19","slug":"male-red-bellied-woodpecker-inside-a-nesting-cavity-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/30\/male-red-bellied-woodpecker-inside-a-nesting-cavity-in-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Red-bellied Woodpecker Inside A Nesting Cavity In Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

On my third visit to Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge I was thrilled to spot a male Red-bellied Woodpecker inside of a nesting cavity. I was able to photograph him peeking out of the nest.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-bellied Woodpecker inside a nesting cavity – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 1250, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1,4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

My only problem with this nesting cavity is that in the morning the light angle stinks! The rising sun is east of the tree the nest is in which puts the nesting hole in the shadows. I may have to make an afternoon trip or two to the refuge to get this nest in nice light.<\/p>\n

\"Red-belliedRed-bellied Woodpecker in a nesting cavity – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 1250, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1,4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first found the nesting cavity there were two woodpeckers at it, the male was inside; the female was outside of the nest and she promptly flew off.<\/p>\n

Last year I saw nesting Red-bellied Woodpeckers in my dear friend Steve Creek’s yard<\/span><\/a>. I didn’t see if the chicks fledged though and neither did Steve after I left to head back to Utah.<\/p>\n

I am excited to be able to see and hear this woodpecker species again on a regular basis. While I lived in Utah, I missed them.<\/p>\n

Maybe I will time a visit to the refuge where I will be able to see the young Red-bellied Woodpeckers leaving the nesting cavity. It would be awesome to see them fledge.<\/p>\n

I’ve also missed seeing the larger Pileated Woodpeckers but so far I haven’t gotten the quality images of them that I want. I’m working at it by keeping a lookout and listening for them!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On my third visit to Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge I was thrilled to spot a male Red-bellied Woodpecker inside of a nesting cavity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129100,"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":[27,13973,13997,15021],"tags":[4004,13985,13984,4062,13998,3976,2580,2579,13999,165,4427,12949,4777,2146],"class_list":["post-129109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-red-bellied-woodpeckers","category-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-male","tag-melanerpes-carolinus","tag-nesting","tag-nesting-cavity","tag-nesting-tree","tag-red-bellied-woodpecker","tag-spring","tag-tree","tag-trunk","tag-woodpecker","tag-woodpeckers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/red-bellied-woodpecker-nesting-mia-mcpherson-1415.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xAp","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":129109,"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-headed-woopecker-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-0949.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-headed-woopecker-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-0949.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":143033,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/23\/the-demise-of-a-red-headed-woodpecker-nesting-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":129109,"position":1},"title":"The Demise Of A Red-headed Woodpecker Nesting Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a short and sad story about the demise of a Red-headed Woodpecker nesting tree at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-headed Woodpecker perched above of their nesting cavity, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-headed-woodpecker-nest-tree-mia-mcpherson-2458.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-headed-woodpecker-nest-tree-mia-mcpherson-2458.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-headed-woodpecker-nest-tree-mia-mcpherson-2458.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-headed-woodpecker-nest-tree-mia-mcpherson-2458.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114563,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/20\/red-headed-woodpecker-photos-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":129109,"position":2},"title":"Red-headed Woodpecker Photos From Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Red-headed Woodpecker in Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/red-headed-woodpecker-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-9310.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/red-headed-woodpecker-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-9310.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/red-headed-woodpecker-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-9310.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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cavity","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I was photographing some Pine Siskins along a road in Madison County, Montana when this male Red-shafted Northern Flicker stuck his head out of his nesting cavity in an aspen and surprised me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Northern Flicker in its nest, Wade Lake, Madison County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-mia-mcpherson-montana-5876.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-flicker-mia-mcpherson-montana-5876.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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