Location is Northern Virginia.
At the nest hole
Preparing to fly off
I’ve tentatively identified him or her as a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, but that’s only because I haven’t seen anything else that looks close…my web searches haven’t turned up any very similar species, but they might exist. So the first question is, is this in fact a Red-Bellied?
Secondly, the only site I’ve seen so far that differentiates the sexes does so by showing the red on the nape and back of head not extending all the way around to the beak on the female. There’s a gray gap on the “forehead,” roughly between the eyes and the beak. But we can’t see the front in these shots – can anyone sex this bird based on what we can see?
It’s not important at all, I’m just learning more about wild birds and about my new camera, so thanks for your time.
Sailboat
Definitely a Red-bellied Woodpecker, one of the most common species in your area.
I am not aware of any other way to tell the sex without seeing the top of the head. I am under the impression that this bird is female, because I think a male would have the nape patch a bit more extensive, but because of the angle I can’t say for sure.
Yep, it’s a red-bellied woodpecker. Quite possibly female, from your photos, though it is hard to see enough of her forehead to be sure.
Dunno about “most common”, at least I’ve only seen them 3 times at my feeders (the downy woodpeckers are more frequent visitors) but that could just be becaause I’m setting out the wrong variety of food or something.
Or maybe she’s been running around on me, spending all her time at your place, that little tramp 
Red bellieds are one of my fave birds. Once you become familiar with their song, you’ll recognize it all over the place.
The bastards tearing down the house behind us cut down a tree with an active nest of redbellied young. Fortunately, that entire portion of the trunk was intact, and we stood it up inside of our fence. The parents continued to care for their young, despite the nest being 20 feet lower than before.
I said “one of the most common”; Downy and maybe Hairy would also be common species. I don’t know whether the species differ in their use of feeders.
Interestingly, the Red-bellied Woodpecker has been expanding its range northward and westward in recent decades. When I was a kid in the Bronx in the 1950s Red-bellieds were pretty scarce; now they are one of the most common species.
The name is not all that appropriate, since they have only a faint wash of red on the belly which is scarcely apparent in the wild. However, this character is apparent in the skins studied by the ornithologists who first named the species.
I just think its cool that you displayed a picture of a woodpecker at Flick(e)r. 
