Species

Red-headed woodpecker

Melanerpes erythrocephalus

A strikingly tricoloured woodpecker that stores acorns and catches insects in flight, declining across Georgia.

Photo Unknown photographer (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC0 1.0 (opens in a new tab)

Adaptation

At a glance

Size: About 19 to 23 cm long
Weight: About 55 to 90 g
Habitat: Open woods with dead trees, beaver swamps, pine savannas and golf courses
Diet: Insects, acorns, nuts, seeds and fruit
In Georgia: An uncommon resident statewide
Voice: A harsh "queer"
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Entirely red head; black back; big white wing patches; white underparts
Told apart from: Red-bellied woodpecker, which has a barred back and only a red cap
Where to look: Open woods with dead snags, and beaver ponds

Behaviour

Red-headed woodpeckers catch insects in flight like flycatchers, and store nuts and insects in cracks and under bark, sometimes covering them with wood or bark.

Why they matter

Red-headed woodpeckers have declined by more than half over recent decades as dead trees and open woods were cleared. They need standing dead trees for nesting and are a sign of healthy, open woods with snags.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A cavity in a dead tree or dead branch
Eggs — Usually four or five
Incubation — About 12 to 14 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Flight — At about four weeks
Lifespan — Several years

Living around people

Dead trees left standing where safe give them nest sites.
They are often hit by cars when catching insects over roads.

Misconceptions

Any woodpecker with red on its head is a red-headed woodpecker. Only this one has an entirely red head.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Feeding on stored acorns	Present	Pairs forming	Nesting	Nesting	Chicks	Young fledging	Second broods	Storing acorns	Storing acorns	Present	Present

Where it lives

Recorded in 41 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

If you found one

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