Red-headed Woodpeckers breeding-a photo chronology
While birding at Lake Holbrook, north of La Junta, Co, a few days ago, I was delighted to find four Red-headed Woodpeckers in a small grove of trees across the road from lake. I am always happy to find these woodpeckers as they are declining in a number of areas. These woodpeckers were calling and tapping repeatedly, chasing each other and mating. On several occasions I observed a pair copulating and I was able to photo-document one of these. Starting with the second one, these pics chronologically document this copulation as it occurred. The 7th pic shows this pair apparently copulating while facing opposite from the other pics. What I observed was the apparent male hop off the female and briefly perch facing the same direction as shown in pic #6. That bird then hopped onto the branch to it's right facing the to the right and the other woodpecker mounted him, which is shown in this 7th pic. According to Birds of North America (BNA) online, Red-headed Woodpeckers engage in