A Red-headed Woodpecker in Maricopa County

 Yesterday on Christmas, 2022, an eBird report came in late in the day of a Red-headed Woodpecker found in Maricopa County in Goodyear by Julie Neff-Encinas.  I was surprised when I saw the report pop up, and the eBird report came with two nice photos of a younger Red-headed Woodpecker.  It was coming to a neighborhood that fortunately has a park called Rancho Santa Fe Park just south of the street that the bird was coming too (according to the location that was plotted on eBird).  I hoped that the park would harbor the bird too, and by looking at Google Maps it appeared that it had a variety of different trees.  Caleb and I talked about the sighting for awhile and the birding community was quickly aware of the bird.  All we could hope for was that someone would go out there and relocate the bird.  I reviewed Maricopa's one and only prior Red-headed Woodpecker record that was from a Phoenix yard in 1959 of a long-staying bird that was present from March to May.  63 years is the time gap in between records, quite crazy for sure! 

Today I didn't have the highest of expectations about the bird being relocated, but around mid-morning birders Bill and Beth Clark reported that the woodpecker was present on a palm tree at the same location it was reported yesterday, and that they were viewing it from the park.  Crazy!  I had 3 hours to go at work, and after that I'd be set to try for the bird.  Ronnie Reed, Jacob Bagley, and Susan Fishburn re-found the bird in the park, and Ronnie told me that it would fly back-and-fourth between the park and the neighborhood.  Ronnie also talked to Julie who found the bird, and she told him it had actually been present for 4 days now.  I got done with work after one and got to the park after 1:30 P.M.  Right away I joined Jacob, and he told me the bird was around.  We joined Steve Velasek, and he had the bird in the palm tree.  It was on the back part of the palm tree at first, but then it came to our side of the tree and gave a quick look before it went into a hole that it was storing food nearby.  Steve put the bird in his scope and kindly let us look through it, and the views of the Red-headed Woodpecker were great.  It's brownish head had a bit of red on the back of the head, and when it took flight after awhile, it's striking back pattern that featured a mostly black back with white secondaries was evident.  After it hung out at the tree for some time, it flew just south into the park, which had a variety of trees that included oak and mesquite.  We were quickly joined by Jeff Ritz, Dara Vazquez, Sochetra Ly, and Jon Mann.  The woodpecker was one I didn't think of as vocalizing much, but I was wrong and it gave this standout chattering rattle of a call that reminded us of an oriole or a Yellow-headed Blackbird.  For almost 2 hours, I enjoyed this bird as it was active while gathering food.  It frequented Rancho Santa Fe Park and went to the palm tree at times as observations continued.  And most of the time, I watched the bird with Jacob, Jeff, and Dara. 

In my ebird report, I wrote up these notes: "Continuing find by Julie Neff-Encinas, an awesome discovery. First seen in palm trees on north side of Granada Road (in neighborhood) as well as in Rancho Santa Fe Park where it liked the oaks in near basketball courts and other trees nearby. It visited a mesquite here 33.465870,-112.329576 quite often, and the oaks near this mesquite too. It was active and commonly gathering acorns and storing them in the palm tree. When we observed it it gave a rattle/ chattering call often which sounded similar to an oriole or somewhat like Yellow-headed Blackbird. This call helped locate it lots of the time. Younger bird with mostly brown head (some red present; mostly on back of head), black back with contrasting white secondaries, mostly white underneath with black outer wings to contrast with white. Thanks Steve and Jacob for showing me the bird when I got to the park!  *2nd Maricopa County record, with the first one being back in 1959. The 1959 bird was present in a Phoenix yard from March-May. It'll be interesting to see how long this one sticks".

What a find by Julie and what a great event to chase it As it is not only a new Maricopa County bird for me (#413), but is also an Arizona lifer for me also (#486).  In the past, I've seen this species in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, and Florida before this Arizona bird today.

After enjoying the Red-headed Woodpecker, Jacob, Jeff, Dara, and I went to the Glendale Recharge Ponds to look for some birds there that have included three Tundra Swans as of late.  We enjoyed the swans in Basin 1, a Ross's Goose, and we also had high numbers of Common Mergansers (the highest count that we've seen at Glendale-over 200).  After we had been birding for awhile, we were joined by Nolan Walker and Kadynn Hatfield who had also come from seeing the Red-headed Woodpecker.  It was a fun afternoon of birding, and man, what an epic discovery by Julie of the Red-headed Woodpecker...