Red Bellied Woodpecker Hand Feeding

This is how we hand fed a Red-Bellied Woodpecker (before getting judged) We put sunflower seeds on the railing to see who might stop by. A red-bellied woodpecker shows up like he’s got a reservation. To get him to hand feed I offer the premium option, peanuts instead. Meanwhile, Ashleys’ distracted by a squirrel doing yoga stretches. Then—WHOOSH—the woodpecker comes back, this time with a titmouse right behind him like a BACKUP dancer. Ashley’s more impressed than she was by squirrel yoga. To wingman her, I close my hand so the Woodpecker hops over to her instead, like, “Yeah, I don’t play those games” The he grabs this seed, then looks at me… like I insulted his mother, and drops it. Meanwhile, this fella calls himself a red-bellied woodpecker…and his belly is clearly white. So who REALLY has the integrity issues? Then—very deliberately— he picks up a peanut that is maybe a hundredth of an ounce bigger, then the one he rejected, but in his mind, it’s clearly superior, He looks at me like, “Yep. This one.” And flies off. You know…every day is cute…and some days are even cuter.