Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Family
Picidae (Woodpeckers)

Size
24 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Habitat
Mature lowland forest with dead trees for nesting, open areas for fly-catching and a relatively open understorey.

Range (Guide)

Canada (B) (P), USA (B) (NB).

Vagrant to St Pierre and Miquelon (P).

Breeds in extreme southern Canada from southern Manitoba (L Winnipeg) east to New Brunswick, and in central and eastern USA from Montana (east of Rocky Mts) across to Atlantic coast, south to central Colorado, central New Mexico, Gulf of Mexico and Florida.

Population
Estimated population is 2,500,000 (2010) and decreasing.

Status LC
Habitat degradation, due to the removal of dead trees and branches in urban areas, loss of nesting habitat to firewood cutting, clear cutting, agricultural development and river channelling appears to be the main threats.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (135)...)

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) [XC774908]
by Eric DeFonso from Crosby Township (near Harrison), Hamilton County, Ohio, United States (drumming)

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) [XC254603]
by Jonathon Jongsma from Four Mile Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States (call)

Subspecies
Possibly closer to Puerto Rican Woodpecker (Melanerpes portoricensis) and Guadeloupe Woodpecker (Melanerpes herminieri) than to Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus). Slightly longer-winged (more migratory) populations of western Great Plains southern and west to central Colorado sometimes separated as subspecies caurinus, supposedly also with slightly deeper yellow wash below. Tone of underparts, however, varies greatly among all populations, and subspecific division considered unwarranted.

No subspecies.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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