I had read on Bird Brains that a redheaded woodpecker had been spotted in a neighborhood in St. Petersburg. Hanging out near a vacant lot that used to be a school. Since it’s really close to where I work, I headed down there after work last week. I thought it might be a needle in a haystack thing but after looking for close to an hour, I found it.

It looks like he might be a juvenile since the red feathers on his head are not completely filled out. He was sitting high up in a palm tree right on the road.  This is only the 2nd one I’ve seen and the first in Florida. My first sighting was in a cemetery in Atlanta.

You can see his beautiful redhead from the back.

As I was taking pictures, a nice gentleman walking his dog stopped and asked what was so interesting. I told him about the rare redheaded woodpecker. He looked at it and then walked a few feet away and came back and said “There’s another redheaded woodpecker over here.” I said “Yes, but that’s a red bellied woodpecker which is more common.” He said “But he has a redhead.” He looked at me like I was crazy.

After a while he flew off farther away into a tree. The sun was going down quickly so I left and headed home.

I want to thank Don Margeson for keeping tabs and posting the sighting on Bird Brains.