The Red-breasted Sapsucker is one of four sapsucker species of woodpeckers that regularly drill holes through bark to feed on tree sap. The Sapsucker maintains and defends extensive systems of sap wells, which other species suck as the rufous Hummingbird feed from. Three of the four species of sapsuckers, including the Red-breated, are believed to have been a single species that occupied a widespread range across northern North America, but became separated by the Pleistocene ice sheets, and further fragmented by geographic barriers such as the Rocky Mountains. There they evolved into separate species that have come back into contact with each other following the ice retreat. Today's distribution of the three sapsucker species is directly related to their distribution of the three sapsucker species is directly related to their ice age refuge. the Red-breasted Sapsucker is restricted to the Pacific biomes of western North America, where it is largely resident, making some local movements, except in interior British Columbia where the breeding population is entirely migratory.
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A male Downy Woodpecker searching for insects on some old tree branches.
Besides a diet of mostly insects, the Downy Woodpecker also feeds on seeds and berries and will also eat suet at bird feeders.
At 14-17 cm (5.5-6.7 in) long, the Downy Woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker in North America, common and widespread, although it avoids the arid southwest.
Unlike the cleaner lower white areas of the Downy's in the east, the Downy's of the Pacific, like the one shown are dingy brownish-gray.
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The Black-headed Grosbeak is a songbird of medium size. It can be typically found in mixed or broad-leaved forests, especially in brushy, riparian areas. They are not as often found in coniferous vegetation, but will inhabit paths of broadleaved trees and shrubs within confer forest, including streamside corridors, wetlands, and suburban areas.
Black-headed Grosbeaks range from the Pacific Coast to the middle of the US Great Plains and from southwestern Canada to the mountains of Mexico. US and Canadian birds are highly migratory, wintering in Mexico.
The Black-headed Grosbeak is a spring and early summer visitor here on south Vancouver Island, B.C.. They fly all the way to Mexico for the winter months.
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House Sparrows originated in the middle East and spread along with agriculture to most of Eurasia and parts of North Africa. Since the mid-19th century, it has reached most of the world, chiefly due to deliberate introductions, but also through natural and shipborne dispersal. Its introduced range encompasses most of North America, Central America, southern South America, southern Africa, part of West Africa, Australia, New Zealand and island throughout the world. It has greatly extended its range in northern Eurasia since the 1850
s and continues to do so , as was shown by its colonization around 1990 of Iceland and Rishiri Island, Japan. The extent of its range makes it the most widely distributed wild bird on the planet.
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A pretty male House Finch perched and posing for me!
Did you know that the male House Finch gets its color from the pigments in the food it eats? I enjoy seeing the male House Finches with different pigments, rather than all the same shade.
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