Breeding season for most of our birds in Florida is underway. That means that birds, especially the males, are all decked out in their finest brilliant attire. For some of them that includes long, fluffy plumes, more colorful skin around their eyes or on their legs, or most commonly brighter, more colorful patterns. For the red bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) the changes are fairly subtile, but they are there. Both the males and females always have a red stripe that runs from the back of the neck, over the top of the head, and towards the nares. The stripe on the males is always longer than it is on the females, but this time of year it is a brighter red. There is also more and brighter red on the face and on the belly. I like the way this high key image of one of my male red bellies helps to really bring out the red on his head and on his face. If you enlarge the image you can even see just a touch of the red under his belly; something you would never be able to do at this angle any other time of the year. In the bird world, generally the brighter colored males are more likely to be chosen by the females, so I think Woodrow here should do pretty well.