One of my favorite visitors to my bird-feeder is the Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). However, it rarely spends much time off the feeder on nearby branches. Off the feeder is a rule for me, and as a result getting a decent photograph has eluded me. Today I finally (Figure 1) succeeded in photographing this young male, and this was with the added handicaps of through glass and low solar illumination.

It has been said that the red-bellied is poorly named, because it rarely exhibits a subtle reddish coloration on its belly. So it is an added bonus to the day that Figure 1 actually captures this coloration.

Canon T2i with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens at 250 mm, ISO 400, Aperture Priority AE Mode, 1/160th of a sec at f/7.1 with -1 exposure compensation.