Red-headed Woodpecker

Reedy quee-ah notes wobble through the clip, broken up by quick tattoo-like bursts on a hollow-sounding trunk.

Year-round resident in the Southeast and lower Midwest; breeds throughout the eastern half of the continent up into southern Canada; northernmost populations migrate to the southern U.S. and occasionally northern Mexico for winter.

Prefers open, semi-park-like landscapes such as oak savannas, mature orchards, beaver pond edges, pine plantations, cemeteries, and open riparian woods where standing dead trees (snags) are available for nesting and food storage.

Courtship and nesting from late April through July; intensive food caching August–October; partial migration September–November and again March–May; winter flocks form in mast-rich woodlots.

The Red-headed Woodpecker is a striking, medium-sized woodpecker instantly recognizable by its completely crimson head, snow-white underparts, and glossy black upperparts with bold white wing panels. Its straight-to-the-point lifestyle—fly-catching, nut-hoarding, and noisy territorial defense—makes it one of North America’s most charismatic birds.