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Date: 4/27/26 10:04 am From: Will Cook <cwcook...> Subject: Red-bellied Woodpecker predation on a nestling Carolina Chickadee
My friend who lives on the Orange/Durham County NC line has a video camera pointed at a Carolina Chickadee nest box. On 4/20/2026 he documented a Red-bellied Woodpecker raiding the chickadee nest in this video (moment of truth at the 1:07 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40QnGP9bonE This is not a recently discovered phenomenon, but I bet a lot of y'all didn't know about this (it was a surprise to me). Here are some related articles: Common, but Commonly Overlooked: Red-bellied Woodpeckers as Songbird Nest Predators https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/7495 A simple trail camera modification reveals red-bellied woodpeckers as important egg predators of box-nesting wood ducks https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352249623000125 Documentation of predation of a nestling Cerulean Warbler by a Red-bellied Woodpecker https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1676/12-163.1 Red-bellied Woodpecker Predation on Nestling Carolina Chickadees https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=19647&context=auk Red-bellied Woodpecker Predation on Nestling House Wrens https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12746&context=condor Will Cook - Durham, NC

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