My husband and I are new at birding, but have seen some unusual birds in our backyard. We live in LaRue County in a small rural town of Magnolia, just outside Hodgenville. Last year we had an American bittern on our pond, well hidden by the tall grasses. In February of this year, we had a juvenile red-headed woodpecker come to one of our suet feeders and has remained. When it arrived, the head certainly was not red, and we weren't sure we had identified it correctly. Since then, the head has become more and more pure red. We already have two other species of woodpeckers (all with partners) and would like to know if the red-head will stay around for awhile without a mate or is there some way to help attract one. We have a pair of bluebirds that have come back each year (this is 3rd year). They recently returned and are setting up home. The male was quite upset for a few days because of the "male" he saw in my husband's old farm truck mirror. We had to cover it because the male was so agitated. The tree swallows have also returned, and one pair has taken up home in one of the empty bluebird houses. Any books that anyone can recommend on identifying some of our other birds would be appreciated. We have several, but most don't tell you how to tell the difference between some of the ones that look almost identical. Thanks for your help. ================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS============== The BIRDKY Mailing List requires you to sign your messages with first & last name, city, & state abbreviation. -------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, send e-mail to: birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx -------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: birdky-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society web site at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos.htm * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx