Woodpeckers, Doves & Other Land Birds
Red-headed Woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus
A boldly patterned woodpecker with a solid crimson head. It catches insects in midair and stores acorns and nuts in tree cracks for later.
How to identify it
- Entirely bright red head and neck
- Jet-black back with large white wing patches
- White underparts
- Young birds have a brown head
SizeBetween a Song Sparrow and an American Robin
Carolina Chickadee4 in
Song Sparrow6 in
Red-headed Woodpecker8 in
American Robin10 in
6 inAverage length, bill to tail
Details
- Size
- 7.5–9 in long; wingspan about 16.5 in
- Weight
- 2–3.2 oz
- Habitat
- Open woodlands, oak savannas, swamps with dead trees, farmland
- When to see it
- Year-round across much of the East
- Diet
- Insects, acorns, nuts, berries
Range in the United States
Life history
Food
Catches insects in midair and on the ground, and eats acorns, beechnuts, seeds and fruit.
Nesting
A cavity in a dead tree or dead branch, also utility poles.
- Clutch
- 3–10 eggs
- Incubation
- 12–14 days
- Young
- Fledge at about 4 weeks
- Broods
- 1–2 per year
Behavior
One of the few woodpeckers that stores food, wedging nuts and even live grasshoppers into cracks.
Conservation
Declined by about 70% since the 1960s; listed as near threatened.
Cool facts
- It may cover stored food with wood or bark to hide it.
- It's one of the best flycatchers among woodpeckers.
- Both males and females have the full red head.
Songs & calls
▶Bird sounds video coming soon
Watch the Red-headed Woodpecker
▶Video coming soon
