Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) | Photos, Calls and ID

LCLeast ConcernInvertebrates

ForestCavity nestMedium · 72 g

What the Red-headed Woodpecker sounds like

Sonogram of the Red-headed Woodpecker: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Call · Four Mile Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Call, drumming · Four Mile Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Call · Four Mile Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

Adults are distinctly tricolored, with a black back and tail, a white belly and rump, and a red head and neck. The wings are black with white secondary remiges. Adult males and females are identical in plumage. Juveniles have similar markings, but their heads are grey. Red-headed woodpeckers are entirely crimson above their shoulders. These are mid-sized woodpeckers. Both sexes measure from 19 to 25 cm (7.5 to 9.8 in) in length, with a wingspan of 42.5 cm (16.7 in). They weigh from 56 to 97 g (2.0 to 3.4 oz), with an average of 76 g (2.7 oz). Each wing measures 12.7–15 cm (5.0–5.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Red-headed Woodpecker

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 11 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Red-headed Woodpecker

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 2 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Canada

Recorded as a rare visitor in St. Pierre & Miquelon.

About the Red-headed Woodpecker

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.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Acorn WoodpeckerMelanerpes formicivorusThe adult acorn woodpecker has a brownish-black head, back, wings and tail, white forehead, throat, belly and rump.

Golden-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes aurifronsThe golden-fronted woodpecker is 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10 in) long and weighs 65 to 102 g (2.3 to 3.6 oz).

Gila WoodpeckerMelanerpes uropygialisThe back and wings of this bird are spotted and barred with a black and white zebra-like pattern.

Side by side: Red-bellied Woodpecker vs Red-headed Woodpecker · Acorn Woodpecker vs Red-headed Woodpecker · Golden-fronted Woodpecker vs Red-headed Woodpecker · Gila Woodpecker vs Red-headed Woodpecker

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