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The woodpeckers come to the bird feeder to feast on lard, and with good reason this year  – the harvest of cones is unspeakably poor and no “woodpecker smithies“ where cones are laid open have been seen. Coniferous tree seeds are the base food in winter otherwise.

 

The colourful sign of the male bird is the red patch at the nape - so the bird on Arne’s photo is a female. Both sexes have black crowns and back plumage, white patches on the shoulders, red undertail feathers: a bright get-up in the present surroundings with little colour around.