Red-bellied woodpeckers on this page including one which appears to be shaping a hole for a future nest or a food stash.
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A male red-bellied woodpecker.
[A medium-sized bird with black and white striped wings, a grey head and belly, and a wide red stripe on its head which runs from the bill across the front of its face and over the top of its head until it meets the stripes on its back. It is perched in a tree.]

A red-bellied woodpecker running up the tree.
[A medium-sized bird with black and white striped wings and a wide red swatch over the middle and back of its head. This view is from below as it runs up the tree such that the back foot is toward the back and off the ground while the rear part of the front foot has touched down.]

This is a female red-bellied woodpecker. A male has a continuous strip of red from the beak to the back of the head while the female has a grey patch between the red sections.
[The woodpecker is perched at the top of a utility pole and looking down so the front and top of her head is visible. She has a red patch just above her beak and then again starting at the top of her head and running down the back of it.]

Early in the morning I noticed this red-bellied woodpecker pecking away at the tree approximately 30 feet above the ground.
[This is the back view of the woodpecker with its head facing into what appears to be a hole in the tree.]

After the woodpecker's head disappeared in the hole, I realized it was more than a surface depression.
[This is the back view of the woodpecker with only a bit of red on the back of its head visible because the rest of the head is inside the tree.]

Here's a side view of the same hole on a different day.
[The entire head and part of the upper body are in the hole. The bird's tail is down against the tree while the wings stick straight out from its back and the stance probably helps the bird balance. It's feet are in the tree near the edge of the hole.]

The hole looks to be quite deep and a nearly perfectly round opening.
[The hole in the pine tree is nearly at the center of the trunk. The edges of the hole are smooth and symmetrical as if a drill-press created the opening. The hollowed-out opening goes into the tree at a downward angle and is at least two inches deep. The photo was shot from below the hole, so it's not possible to see the complete depth of the hole. ]

A red-bellied woodpecker sticking its head out of a much larger hole in a different tree.
[This hole is on the right side of the tree and the bird's beak, head, and first part of the upper body are visible. The tree trunk is not symmetrical in its upward growth and has a crook in it in this area. ]

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All photos © S. M. Garver