Pl. LXXXVIII
The Birds · Plate LXXXVIII
Red-headed Woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus
Picidae · Taxon 18204
| Length | 19–23 cm |
| Wingspan | 42 cm |
| Weight | 56–91 g |
Field marks
- Adult has an entirely crimson-red head, neck, and throat.
- Black back, wings, and short stiff tail contrast sharply with the head and belly.
- Large white inner-wing and rump patches create a bold black-and-white pattern.
- Underparts are clean white and largely unmarked.
- Large rounded head with a long, straight, chisel-shaped gray bill and dark eye.
- Immature birds have a gray-brown head and back, with dark bars or spots on the white wing patches.
HabitatOpen woodland, savanna, forest edges, clearings, orchards, parkland, farmland, and wetlands with standing dead trees; nesting depends strongly on snags or dead limbs, while mature nut-producing woods are important in winter.
BehaviorDiurnal and territorial; climbs trunks and large limbs, drums and excavates cavities, catches insects both from wood and in midair, forages on the ground, and caches nuts, seeds, fruit, and insects in crevices.
Palette
crimson red — adult head and throatinky black — back, wings, and tailclean white — belly, rump, and wing patchesslate gray — bill, legs, and feetgray-brown — immature head and back