The red-headed woodpecker is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America. Its breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the east-central United States. It is rated as least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Endangered species, having been down-listed from near threatened in 2018.
Region
Eastern and Central North America
Typical Environment
Found from southern Canada through the Great Lakes, Midwest, and east-central to southeastern United States. Prefers open woodlands, oak savannas, pine groves, beaver ponds with standing dead trees, orchards, and farmland with scattered trees. Frequently uses edges, shelterbelts, and riparian corridors where cavities can be excavated. Nesting typically occurs in dead snags or dead limbs of living trees, and the species readily occupies human-altered landscapes with suitable perches and cavities. Winter distribution contracts southward, concentrating where mast crops are abundant.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This striking woodpecker is one of the few North American birds with an entirely red head contrasted by a snowy white body and glossy black wings. It is an accomplished food storer, wedging acorns and other mast into crevices and sometimes covering them with bark. Unusually for a woodpecker, it often catches insects in midair like a flycatcher. Populations fluctuate with acorn crops and availability of open woodlands with dead snags.
Adult males and females are identical in size and plumage
Temperament
territorial and bold
Flight Pattern
strong, undulating flight with firm wingbeats and short glides
Social Behavior
Pairs excavate cavities and both sexes incubate and feed young. They defend territories vigorously, sometimes usurping cavities from other species and guarding food stores. Monogamous within a season, with nesting timed to local food availability. Outside breeding season they may form loose groups in areas with abundant mast.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Vocalizations are loud, rolling churr or tchur notes given in series, carrying well across open habitats. Drumming is firm but relatively simple compared to some woodpeckers. Calls serve both territorial advertisement and contact between mates.
Plumage
Bold tricolored pattern with a uniformly crimson head and neck, clean white underparts and back panel, and glossy black upperparts with large white wing patches.
Diet
Eats a wide variety of insects, including beetles, ants, and grasshoppers, taken from bark, ground, or on the wing. Consumes mast such as acorns and beechnuts, as well as fruits like cherries, apples, and berries. Will cache nuts and corn in bark crevices, fence posts, or utility poles for later use. Occasionally takes eggs or nestlings of other birds and may scavenge carrion. Diet composition shifts seasonally, with more insects in summer and more plant material in fall and winter.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in open woods, along edges, orchards, and around snags that provide perches and storage sites. Often forages from exposed vantage points, sallying out to catch flying insects or dropping to the ground to glean. Uses dead trees and utility poles extensively for both feeding and caching.
