Including some closeup views of what’s on the menu.
1/400, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I photographed this female (white chin with a complete black border around the red) Red-naped Sapsucker three summers ago near the border of southwest Montana and Idaho. As you can see from my shutter speed and camera settings the light was very low so I got a bunch of soft shots but this one and a few others were sharp.
She had a beak full of food for the chicks in the cavity and it appears to me to be insect pupae. I’ve photographed sapsuckers of several species feeding chicks many times in the past and every time adult black ants have been on the menu so my first impulse is to say these are ant pupae but to this non-entomologist they seem a little large for that.
I wanted a closer look so I cropped the previous photo heavily but that really didn’t tell me much, although I always appreciate a closer and more detailed look into their private world.
I did the same thing to another photo of her looking the other way to see what was visible on the other side. All it told me was that she really had a mouthful and there may be more pupae inside her beak. In her eye reflection we see the trees and cloudy sky behind me.
Today’s Red-naped Sapsucker, Red-breasted Sapsucker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were long considered the same species – the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. But systematic studies showed significant distinctions between them (including mostly separate distributions) so in 1983 they were divided into separate species.
Ron
She’s an excellent cook!
🙂
“Hurry up and take your photos; I’ve got kids to feed!”
Thanks for the closeups.
You’re welcome, Lyle.
I think the first crop shows a beetle larva. The shape and segmentation is very similar to lady bug larvae. Second crop has wings of some kind, I think, and a caterpillar. I can’t guess what the smaller stuff might be.
It’s a mix, that’s for sure. Thanks, Pam.
I am so grateful for your voyeuristic ways. And the education (and frequently delight) I get from it.
That poor tired mama. A beakfull of pupae is low on my list of desirable ways to spend the day.
That’s me, a bird voyeur through and through. Thanks, EC.
So that makes you a “Peeping Ron?” 😉
🙂
Looks like she has all kinds of “delectable” (eww) morsels. As they say, the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Thank you for the closer crops. I really like seeing the trees and sky reflected in her eyes. There’s something very calming about those images.
Marty, folks might be surprised how often I crop in tight (or look at the image at 100%) just to satisfy my curiosity.
Quite interesting to see up close what the little chicks eat. As you said in another post, the job of feeding the young ones is exhausting for the parents. And then these chicks grow up only for more little ones to be hatched.
Speaking of parenting, we saw about a dozen little California Quail with their parents eating bugs [I assume] in our back yard yesterday which has a lot of wild foilage and I’m sure many delicious bugs. I couldn’t help thing about your comment on a previous blog that the parents are ecstatic when the chicks can eat on their own.
Thanks for the informative post, Ron
If birds can ever be ecstatic I suspect that would be the time. Thank you, Alice.
Great shots,haven’t a clue what larva they were feeding on.
I think the adults look quite good considering their focus!
Getting itchy, haven’t been out and about due to the weather.
Your blog and my books are my only reprieve!
I’ve seen adults feeding young who looked much worse, Dick. I wish you some sun and nice weather!
Super image Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
One of my favorite birds! I’m not really an entomologist either (though I’ve had a strong interest for the vast majority of my life), but to me they look more like larvae, based on the second shot. Maybe it’s a combination of larvae and pupae?
You may very well be correct, Susan. Entomology is yet another field where my knowledge isn’t up to par.
I’m not much of an entomologist myself either, but most of those insects she has in her beak look like either beetle larvae or various caterpillars (Although from personal experience with beetle larvae I do think it is the former). An Eastern bluebird me and a group of people watched tend to her young in a nest often brought back caterpillars and other insects that were seemingly high in fat and protein, which would make sense for them to do, as they serve as a larger meal to keep their young full so they can rest or catch food for themselves, and food high in fat and protein would make the young grow faster (At least in theory). Nice work, I know a thing or two about the problems of shooting images in low light…
Thanks, Xavier. Could be, I just don’t know…
I agree that pupae looks strange for an ant but it sure looked good to her! Of all the woodpeckers I’ve photographed, these (we have the ‘YellowBellied’ here) have the most bedraggled appearance! Perhaps keeping all those sap wells flowing takes so much time, there is little time left for grooming! 😏
Raising those chicks in a “hole” is an exhausting endeavor, Kathy. I’ve actually seen sapsuckers looking much worse than this at this stage of the game.
Don’t know about the “grub” but she sure looks “scruffty” – just how they look? You definitely captured the behavior!:) Love the reflections in the eye.:)
Judy, both adults look like that by this time in the chick-rearing process. I’ve actually seen them look much worse. It’s an exhausting endeavor. Thanks.