Hey everybody, it’s time for I and the Bird again, and with the holiday season bearing down on all of this I’m going to try to make this one really easy for all of you. The theme? Woodpeckers!

You know them. You love them (unless they’re banging on your eaves at 5 in the morning). There are few groups of birds as charismatic and beloved as the order Piciformes, so let’s go ahead and celebrate them.

I’m sure we’ll get a lot of submissions, so please send your best woodpecker photos and blog posts to naswick AT gmail.com. Make sure IATB is in the subject line.

Deadline for submissions is next Tuesday (12/17) for publication on 12/19.

Thanks!

Written by Nate
Nate Swick is a birder. He grew up in the midwest but currently makes his home in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife and two young children, who are not yet aware that they are birders too. He has a soft spot for Piping Plovers and loves pelagics even when his stomach doesn’t, which makes him the quintessential Carolina birder. Nate is the editor of the ABA blog, host of the American Birding Podcast, and author of two books, Birding for the Curious and The ABA Field Guide to Birds of the Carolinas.