THE RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER OF RI.....

 
I RECENTLY ENJOYED WATCHING THIS BIRD FORAGE IN MY DOGWOOD TREE.
The red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) is a medium-sized woodpecker of the Picidae family. It breeds in southern Canada and the northeastern United States, ranging as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas. Its common name is somewhat misleading, as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on the head; the red-headed woodpecker, however, is another species that is a rather close relative but looks quite different.
It was first described in Linnaeus' Systema Naturae, as Picus carolinus.^[2] The type locality is given simply as "America septentrionalis" (North America).