Want to know what love sounds like? Open the windows, close your eyes and listen. Birds. You’ll hear lots of birds calling to one another, seeking a mate.
Robins are chattering, doves are cooing, finches are chirping and bluebirds make that chur-lee chur chur-lee call.
One bird in our backyard that I wish would sing more is our Red-bellied Woodpecker. Instead of chirping to find his mate, our Little Red finds a nearby gutter and hammers away at it with his bill. He especially likes to do this at first light, so any chances of sleeping late are rubbed out with a loud Rat-a-tat-tat.
Many confuse Red Headed Woodpeckers (a larger species) with Red-bellied Woodpeckers. The Red-bellied Woodpeckers have red heads (at least the males) and they have no red whatsoever on their bellies. I suppose the name “Red Headed Woodpecker” was already taken, so it’s officially Red-bellied Woodpeckers.
Red-bellied Woodpeckers serve an important environmental duty by ridding many trees from harmful borers. They constantly forage by searching for insects on tree trunks and major limbs. They also perch among the branches to pick berries and nuts, when available, and sometimes they catch flying insects in the air. Like the blue jays, Red-bellied Woodpeckers store seeds and nuts in bark crevices and then feed on them in winter.
Some birds sing, some birds hammer out their message, but each species uses spring as the time to fill the air with sounds of love. Love is in the air, you know.