Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Red-headed Woodpecker

Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758)

72 gWeight

The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America.

Busiest months: May · Most records: United States, Canada

Least Concern

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: May · Most records: United States, Canada

Red-headed Woodpecker has been recorded at 394 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 2 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. Point Pelee National ParkCanada7,870 records
  2. Magee Marsh – BoardwalkUnited States5,949 records
  3. HUNTLEY MEADOWS PARKUnited States4,780 records
More places
  1. Conestee Nature PreserveUnited States4,738 records
  2. Caw Caw Interpretive CenterUnited States4,734 records
  3. Hagerman NWRUnited States4,635 records
  4. Eagle Bluffs CAUnited States3,083 records
  5. Mason Farm Biological ReserveUnited States3,064 records
  6. Hughes Hollow - McKee Beshers WMAUnited States2,959 records
  7. Sheldon Marsh State Nature PreserveUnited States2,939 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United StatesCanada

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) 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.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Red-headed Woodpecker?

The Red-headed Woodpecker weighs around 72 g.

Where does the Red-headed Woodpecker live?

Its breeding range: North America: south-central, southeastern Canada to southeastern USA. It is most often recorded in United States and Canada.

When is the best time to see the Red-headed Woodpecker?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Red-headed Woodpecker endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Red-headed Woodpecker as Least Concern.

What does the Red-headed Woodpecker eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Red-headed Woodpecker in?

It belongs to the family Woodpeckers (Picidae), order Piciformes.

At a glance

Weight
72 g
Habitat
Forest
Diet
Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle
Perches in trees
Migration
Resident (barely migrates)
Conservation
Least Concern
More measurements
Wing
140 mm
Tail
83 mm
Bill
27 mm
Tarsus
21 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

North America: south-central, southeastern Canada to southeastern USA

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Family
Woodpeckers Picidae
Genus
Melanerpes

Other birds in the genus Melanerpes

Red-headed Woodpecker

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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Pierrette. ↗

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