My Cheery, Cherry-headed Checkered Friend!

Trying to get a decent capture of this little fellow is a big challenge. As soon as he senses that the camera is in my hot little hands, off he flies! Too bad he doesn't show himself more readily, because he is really gorgeous!

So...how do I come up with such a name to substitute his real name of Rose-Breasted Woodpecker? Well, let's see. First off, he really is a cheerful looking chap; no arguing that fact!

Secondly, because when I was a little girl, my parents would sometimes take us to the Dairy Queen store, where I always, always got a cherry-dipped vanilla cone. That "crunchy" red dip coating was so yummy! Every time I see this bird's nearly unbelieveable red coloring on his head, I am reminded of the cherry-dipped cone!

The checkering is definitely well defined on his back. I love the black and white checkerboard design...it is so outstanding, especially with the bright red on his head!

Oh, and as an aside, the way to distinguish between the male and female birds is by how far down toward the beak the red color goes. On the males, it goes all the way to the beak, whereas it stops short on the females!