Got my baby woodpeckers back today. The evening before my surgery, when I was feeding everyone late--about 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday, I came upon two baby red bellied woodpeckers who'd plastered themselves to the front door of my chicken pen that was right under their nesting hole. One was just at ground level, the other about 3' up. Didn't see nor hear parents and knew these two would be someone's meal, so brought them in the house. Then had to scramble to find someone to take them. My vet told me to all the police, who could give me the ranger's number, who could probably connect me with a local rehabber---which happened. They are nearly ready to release, but apparently she needed some help finishing with them. She thought they needed a lot of insects, which are hard to come by, and had been buying and feeding them crickets. According to my bird books, the red bellied, unlike most other woodpeckers, are mostly vegetarians. They are now in a large cage in one of the empty chicken pens, and I'm hand feeding them every few hours. They are also eating a cake of suet, that had a picture of a woodpecker on the front. I'm hoping for complete success.
