No, and no. :^( The sexes in Red-headed Woodpeckers are not distinguishable by plumage. The difference in staining could very well be the consequence of one bird being in the nest cavity more than the other, but it is usually the male that does more incubation and brooding than the female, as in most(?) woodpeckers.
Described copulation displays, fide Birds of the World, do not indicate any nape-grabbing like waterfowl or cats. Instead, there seems to be switching of who’s on top, and back and forth, and other moves. So, I would say feather loss on the back of the head is due to something else, like earlier onset of molt than the other bird, or something. Best, Kevin From: bounce-127549365-3493...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-127549365-3493...@list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of Dave Nutter Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023 4:51 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Red-headed Woodpeckers This morning I biked up to the east edge of the Town of Ithaca on a successful quest to see the Red-headed Woodpeckers whose nest with young was located by Tom Schulenberg over 2 1/2 weeks ago. I was able to scope and photograph through a small gap in foliage at a respectful enough distance that: the adults came to the nest hole several times to feed one or more unseen nestlings; one adult went entirely inside the cavity at least twice; for awhile in between feedings a large nestling peered out of the cavity, appearing well-feathered on its head and seeming large enough to be ready to fledge soon. The feedings were frequent enough that I think the adults were only feeding at the cavity, but once I located the cavity, I was not looking around to see if they were also feeding any fledglings. Tom has noted plumage differences between the two adults when they visit his feeders. I noticed that one of the adults appeared immaculate, with bright white secondaries and a solid crimson crown. The other adult had a slight rusty tinge on the secondaries, several brown stains on the lower breast plumage, and a patch of feathers apparently missing from the rear of its crown; this was the adult who went inside the cavity each of the two times I was able to tell. My question, for those of you more knowledgeable or research-oriented, is this: Does the difference in plumage I noticed indicate who is which sex? For instance, does the female spend a lot more time in the nest cavity than the male, thus become more likely to get stained? Does missing feathers on the back of the head indicate a female? That is, do mating male woodpeckers grab the back of the head of females, similar to mating ducks? Or is this patch of apparent missing feathers due to something else? A link to my eBird checklist, with photos, is below. - - Dave Nutter - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S143727178 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
