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Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are the most commonly seen woodpeckers in Florida in part because they are generalists that forage for insects, spiders, small lizards, and fruit in trees and on the ground in our yards and parks. Unfortunately, they are about the size of European Starlings and Starlings often usurp their cavities.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers commonly visit bird feeders where they consume peanut butter-cornmeal mixtures smeared into shallow drilled holes or on tree bark. They readily take bird seeds, clinging with difficulty on metal and plastic surfaces to retrieve them.