The red-bellied woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker that lives year-round in most of the eastern United States. Since it has bright red plumage on the back of its head, it is often confused with the red-headed woodpecker.
All in Wildlife Watching
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Northern Pike Have Teeth
Anyone who has gone fishing and caught a northern pike knows one thing for sure: they have sharp teeth! Northern pike are carnivorous fish that grow to large sizes and are often pursued by sport fishermen. Why? Because they eagerly strike artificial lures and put up a great fight.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Golden-Crowned Kinglet
There is a very tiny bird that migrates through much of the United States at this time of year that goes unnoticed by most people. It is larger than a hummingbird, but not by much. A normal house sparrow is almost twice as big as this bird. It is only 3 to 4 inches long and weighs less than a third of an ounce! So what is it? It is the small but very energetic Golden-Crowned Kinglet.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Migrating Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill cranes are some of the tallest birds in North America. They stand a full four feet tall and have an impressive wingspan of more than seven feet. Some individual examples have a light tan hue to their feathers, but most are a dull gray.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Playful River Otter
River otters are playful mammals that spend much of their lives in and around the water. Their antics include chasing other family members through the water and on land, wrestling with siblings and playing with fish that they have caught - prior to eating them, of course.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Pied-Billed Grebe
Have you ever seen a pied-billed grebe? Maybe a better question is: Have you ever heard of a pied-billed grebe? These relatively small aquatic birds are common throughout North America, but unless you spend some time around lakes, ponds and wetland marshes you might never see one.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Ailanthus Webworm Moth
Did you know there are nearly 11,000 species of moths living in the United States? Most people have seen many of the various common moth species living around their house, yard and garden, but there is one species in particular that is pretty unusual. It is the Ailanthus Webworm moth.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Brilliant Blue Indigo Bunting
Have you ever seen a bright blue bird? Well, yes, there are blue jays which are mostly blue, and there are eastern bluebirds that are also mostly blue. But we mean a blue bird that is such a bright blue color that it looks almost neon-blue in the sunlight! That bird is the male Indigo Bunting.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Voracious Bowfin
One of the most fearless and voracious fish swimming around in the eastern United States today is the Bowfin. Also called dogfish, mudfish, mud pike, swamp trout and grindle, these hungry predators are always on the hunt for something to eat.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Belted Kingfisher Is A Minnow Predator
If you spend much time along lakes and waterways during the warm-weather months, you will likely see one of my favorite birds: the belted kingfisher. These birds are slightly larger than a robin, and they are an interesting blue-gray color above with a white belly and a white ring around their neck.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Great Lakes Brown Trout
Brown trout are one of the three main species of trout living in Lake Michigan: including brown trout, lake trout and rainbow trout (steelhead). During the winter and early spring months when the weather is cold, brown trout are one of the easiest of the three species to catch out on the big lake.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers Are Unusual Woodpeckers
Everyone who has spent any amount of time outside has seen or heard a woodpecker at one time or another. Several species live in the eastern half of the United States, including red-headed woodpeckers, red-bellied, downy, hairy, pileated and yellow-bellied sapsuckers.