{"id":142167,"date":"2025-03-29T02:41:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T07:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=142167"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:10:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:10:39","slug":"red-headed-woodpecker-nesting-season-is-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/29\/red-headed-woodpecker-nesting-season-is-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-headed Woodpecker Nesting Season Is On!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"Red-headedRed-headed Woodpecker at their nesting cavity \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f10, 1\/1600, ISO 1000, +0.7 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers have selected a dead tree next to a road at the refuge for their nesting cavity. In the early morning, it should have nice, soft light, but the light I had later in the morning wasn\u2019t too shabby either.<\/p>\n

I loved simply observing this mated pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers working on cleaning out their nest, I had to remind myself to take photos and video!<\/p>\n

The sounds the woodpeckers made while chiseling away at the inside of the nest were easily heard from where I stood.<\/p>\n

\"Red-headedRed-headed Woodpecker next to a nesting cavity \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 1000, +1.0 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, both birds were on the nesting tree; at other times, one would fly over and land on different nearby trees.<\/p>\n

It was fascinating to watch them interact when they were both on the nesting tree, as shown in the video<\/span><\/a> below.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/div><\/div>\n

I’m not sure if the pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers could see a predator in the sky that I couldn\u2019t, but they both seemed wary and kept looking skyward when I took this video.<\/p>\n

Sorry for the movement, I took the video handheld, resting my arm on the hood of the truck for support.<\/p>\n

I very much enjoyed having this pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers in my viewfinder, and before long, I hope to see their young sticking their heads out of the nesting cavity!<\/p>\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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142159,"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":[27,13973,14001,13974,5362],"tags":[4004,14190,13984,14002,2580,4450,14003,8453,165,4427,2791,4777,2146],"class_list":["post-142167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-red-headed-woodpeckers","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-video","tag-adult","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-melanerpes-erythrocephalus","tag-nesting-cavity","tag-nesting-season","tag-red-headed-woodpecker","tag-snag","tag-spring","tag-tree","tag-video","tag-woodpecker","tag-woodpeckers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-headed-woopecker-nesting-cavity-mia-mcpherson-0949.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-AZ1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":143033,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/23\/the-demise-of-a-red-headed-woodpecker-nesting-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":142167,"position":0},"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":142167,"position":1},"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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McPherson","date":"November 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week, I was happy when I took my first acceptable images of a male Pileated Woodpecker in a tree at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Pileated Woodpecker in a tree at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pileated-woodpecker-male-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-2762.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pileated-woodpecker-male-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-2762.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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