Red Headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
Showing Its True Colors
Photo and article by Rick Jordahl
Often found singly in wooded areas, this showy woodpecker can be easily identified by its definitive red head and neck, black upper back and tail, white breast and large white patch on its lower back. The adult male and female are similar in coloration. Juveniles can be more difficult to identify due to their mottled brown head but the white patch on the back usually is present.
Beginning birders or non-birders may mistakenly identify the Red-bellied Woodpecker as a Red-headed. Although their range overlaps somewhat, the two birds have distinctly different field marks. While Red-bellied Woodpeckers have some bright red on their head and on the back of their neck, Red-headed Woodpeckers have a much deeper red hood that covers their entire head and neck. The barred back and wings of the Red-bellied should eliminate any confusion.
This woodpecker nests in deciduous woodlands, forest edges, and open wooded swamps with dead trees. It also prefers beech or oak trees in river bottoms or among groves of dead or dying trees. Red-headed Woodpeckers winter in mature stands of forest, especially those with oaks.
Red-headed Woodpeckers are usually quite tolerant of birdwatchers and are very photogenic. The mature bird is about 9 inches in length with a wingspan of 17 inches. Although often quiet and inconspicuous, the Red-headed Woodpecker’s call is a wheezy ‘queeah’ or ‘tchur-tchur’. You also may hear the bird drumming in bursts of 1-second duration, repeated two or three times.
The Red-headed Woodpecker is omnivorous. It eats insects, seeds, fruits and nuts and is known to store food. The bird flies to catch insects in the air or on the ground. It often stores insects and seeds in cracks and under bark. Grasshoppers are regularly stored alive by being wedged tightly into crevices.
The Red-headed Woodpecker is protective of its territory and not friendly to neighboring birds. In addition to attacking other birds to keep them away, the Red-headed Woodpecker is known to remove eggs from nests of neighboring birds and even to destroy nearby nests.
The breeding range covers much of the eastern half of the United States. Red-headeds may use cavities excavated by other woodpeckers or force some species to abandon active cavities. A pair may re-use the cavity several years in a row. An average of 4-7 eggs are laid in the cavity and incubated by both parents for 12-14 days.
Unfortunately, Red-headed Woodpecker populations have declined severely due to increased nest site competition from European starlings and from removal of dead trees.
Showing Its True Colors
Photo and article by Rick Jordahl
Often found singly in wooded areas, this showy woodpecker can be easily identified by its definitive red head and neck, black upper back and tail, white breast and large white patch on its lower back. The adult male and female are similar in coloration. Juveniles can be more difficult to identify due to their mottled brown head but the white patch on the back usually is present.
Beginning birders or non-birders may mistakenly identify the Red-bellied Woodpecker as a Red-headed. Although their range overlaps somewhat, the two birds have distinctly different field marks. While Red-bellied Woodpeckers have some bright red on their head and on the back of their neck, Red-headed Woodpeckers have a much deeper red hood that covers their entire head and neck. The barred back and wings of the Red-bellied should eliminate any confusion.
This woodpecker nests in deciduous woodlands, forest edges, and open wooded swamps with dead trees. It also prefers beech or oak trees in river bottoms or among groves of dead or dying trees. Red-headed Woodpeckers winter in mature stands of forest, especially those with oaks.
Red-headed Woodpeckers are usually quite tolerant of birdwatchers and are very photogenic. The mature bird is about 9 inches in length with a wingspan of 17 inches. Although often quiet and inconspicuous, the Red-headed Woodpecker’s call is a wheezy ‘queeah’ or ‘tchur-tchur’. You also may hear the bird drumming in bursts of 1-second duration, repeated two or three times.
The Red-headed Woodpecker is omnivorous. It eats insects, seeds, fruits and nuts and is known to store food. The bird flies to catch insects in the air or on the ground. It often stores insects and seeds in cracks and under bark. Grasshoppers are regularly stored alive by being wedged tightly into crevices.
The Red-headed Woodpecker is protective of its territory and not friendly to neighboring birds. In addition to attacking other birds to keep them away, the Red-headed Woodpecker is known to remove eggs from nests of neighboring birds and even to destroy nearby nests.
The breeding range covers much of the eastern half of the United States. Red-headeds may use cavities excavated by other woodpeckers or force some species to abandon active cavities. A pair may re-use the cavity several years in a row. An average of 4-7 eggs are laid in the cavity and incubated by both parents for 12-14 days.
Unfortunately, Red-headed Woodpecker populations have declined severely due to increased nest site competition from European starlings and from removal of dead trees.