• Wilson the Red-Bellied Woodpecker in Tootie’s Backyard.

Wilson

the Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Wilson is a red-bellied woodpecker who lives in Tootie’s backyard all year.

Wilson is a medium-sized woodpecker who spends his days foraging for bugs to snack on.

You can identify Wilson by the bright red stripe that runs across his head from his beak to his back and the black and white spots and stripes. Oftentimes, Tootie and Yoshi hear Wilson drilling for bugs before they see him.

Wilson’s Home

Wilson was born in a tree cavity just outside Tootie’s backyard. He and his three brothers and sisters were born in a nest of wood shavings from when his parents drilled the cavity.

Wilson’s dad picked their home and started building it before his mom moved in.

Wilson and his siblings were born with their eyes closed, and when they were about a week old, their eyes opened. A week later, they each began to grow feathers.

Both parents fed and guarded Wilson and his siblings until they were about a month old and left the nest.

Have you seen Wilson or his family in your yard?

Wilson’s Hobbies

Wilson is a medium-sized woodpecker, smaller than Kevin the Crow but larger than Lucki the Robin. Tootie and Yoshi most often see him drilling into the tree trunks and occasionally on large tree limbs in search of food.

Wilson is most active during the day, and sometimes Tootie and Yoshi see him diving to capture flying bugs as they try to escape. Wilson is also really good at clinging to trees, and Tootie and Yoshi often see him hanging on the bottom of tree limbs.

During the summer, autumn, and winter, Wilson is solitary, working alone to forage for food. During the spring, Wilson hangs out with his family building a new nest and incubating, protecting, and feeding his kids.

Although Wilson spends most of the year by himself, when he and his family form a group, it’s called a descent or a drumming.

What activities are the birds in your backyard doing?

Wilson’s Diet

Wilson is an omnivore, meaning he eats both meat and plants. He loves bugs and spends a lot of his time foraging in the trees, drilling for them in the bark.

His favorite foods are bugs, especially beetles and spiders. He also loves to eat acorns, pieces of pine cones, seeds, and fruits. Wilson will occasionally eat small lizards and minnows, as well.

Wilson is a bark forager, meaning that he uses his keen sight to search for bugs hiding between crevices in the bark of a tree. He then uses his tongue to grab the bugs he finds or uses his beak to knock the wood aside to reach the bug.

When Wilson finds extra food, he hides it in crevices in his trees for the winter. Some of his favorite foods to set aside for later are acorns, fruit, nuts, seeds, and even bugs 

What other birds do you know that are bark foragers?

Learn more about Wilson.

Activities

Crossword


1. Type of bird Wilson is.
2. Name for a group of woodpeckers.
3. Type of forager Wilson is.
4. A favorite food of Wilson's.
5. Where in a tree Wilson was born.
6. Where Wilson hides extra food.
7. Parent who began building the home Wilson was born in.
8. Parent who fed and guarded Wilson and his siblings when they were babies.
9. When Wilson is most active.
10. Animal who works and lives alone.