Redheaded Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Cool fact: The migration of Red-headed Woodpeckers appears to depend on the availability of winter foods, especially acorns and beech nuts. During most years, birds from the northern parts of the breeding range move southward in winter. They are somewhat gregarious outside of the breeding season, and large flocks, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, may be seen in passage. Listen to recordings of a Red-headed Woodpecker and a Red-bellied Woodpecker from the Library of Natural Sounds:
Red-headed Woodpecker [119 k]
Red-bellied Woodpecker [29k]

Red-headed Woodpeckers range from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast, east of the Rocky Mountains and west of New England. They are birds of wooded savanna, open woodlands, riparian forests, orchards, suburbia, and agricultural lands. Preferred habitat includes dead trees for use as nest sites, relatively open undergrowth, and access to the ground for foraging. In the East, old mature woodlots with some undergrowth as well as suburbs and agricultural areas are typical redhead habitats, whereas in the South, clearings with tall stumps are used. Although uncommon throughout much of their range, Red-headed Woodpeckers are most abundant in the open forests of the Midwest. They were once common throughout much of the Northeast but declined with competition from European Starlings for nest sites. Unlike other woodpeckers, Red-headed Woodpeckers rarely excavate holes to find insects. Instead, they employ a wide variety of foraging techniques and eat a wide variety of foods. They will often sally out from a perch after flying insects in the manner of flycatchers, or they will drop to the ground to capture prey they spotted while perched. Animal prey ranges from beetles, ants, and grasshoppers to mice, eggs, and young birds. Red-headed Woodpeckers have been known to expand the openings of hole-nesting birds’ nest sites to get at the nestlings. Over the course of a year, about half of their diet consists of vegetable food. Their fondness for cultivated fruit and corn may make them a nuisance in some areas. Winter staples of acorns and beechnuts are gathered and stored in crevices, cracks, and other naturally occurring holes. Unlike their food-caching relative, the Acorn Woodpecker (M. formicivorus), they do not make their own holes for storing food. In some cases, they seal their caches with chips of wood or twigs. Large insects such as grasshoppers and June beetles may also be stored for short periods of time. Males excavate nest cavities in barkless, dead tree trunks or limbs from 6 feet to 75 feet above ground. The task takes about two weeks. In treeless regions, fence posts and utility poles are used, as well as more unusual sites such as old wagon wheels, pumps, and buildings. Both sexes share in the incubation and feeding, although the females increasingly assume the workload as the nestlings grow older. Males sometimes begin another excavation for a second brood. Description: Adult Red-headed Woodpeckers are unique and unmistakable, with a red head, neck and throat, black tail, black wings with large white patches at the secondaries, along with a white rump and underparts. Juveniles look similar but have streaked dusky brown backs, wings, and tails; streaked dusky brown heads; and some barring in the white wing patch. This plumage lasts through the summer and into the fall. The molt into the adult plumage begins in September with the head and back beginning to show adult coloring and lasts through the winter. Recording credits: Red-headed Woodpecker calls and drumming were recorded by Robert C. Stein and William W. H. Gunn, and are included on the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern/Central Bird Songs. Red-bellied Woodpecker calls and drums were recorded by Randolph Scott Little and Robert C. Stein. Copyright© 2000 Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology | Distinctive wing-pattern of adult Red-headed Woodpecker immature plumage of Red-headed Woodpecker