watercolor and colored pencil on Lanaquarelle
9"w x 12"h
Red-bellied Woodpeckers are found throughout eastern North America, and are primarily to be seen foraging in trees. They prefer to make their nesting holes 5-70 feet from the ground in dead trees, but in populated areas from which dead trees have been cleared, they have been known to nest in telephone poles, birdhouses and fence posts. Research shows that males tend to forage on the trunks of trees, while the females tend to forage in the limbs and branches. The woodpeckers are also known to store food for later in the crevices of trees and posts.
This image is one of 100 plates produced for the Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City, to be published in the fall of 2007 by Johns Hopkins University Press. The guide will present 134 species of animal and plant life commonly found in the extensive park system of New York City.
