The Flying Checkerboard
Find out how to attract boldly patterned red-headed woodpeckers.
Flashing rich crimson, jet black and ivory white—the same bold colors found on a classic deck of cards—the red-headed woodpecker starkly contrasts with the muted colors of its natural habitat.
MAGNIFICENT MARKINGS
“The red-headed woodpecker has very distinctive, large color patches with no variegating, striation or striping,” says Emma Greig, project leader at Project Feederwatch, a winter-season initiative that surveys birds across North America led by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
This beautiful bird has a red head, a snow white body and inky black wings with white patches. Both males and females sport the bold, bright colors, while juveniles appear subdued in brown, black and white.
DISTINCTIVE BEHAVIORS Red-headed woodpeckers have the ability to catch insects while in flight, which Emma says is unusual, and they’re known to stash snacks in excavated crevices. They can wedge live grasshoppers so tightly into crevices that the bugs are unable to break free.
According to Cornell, this species is “one of only four North American woodpeckers known to store food, and it is the only one known to cover the stored food with wood or bark.” Red-headed woodpeckers frequently hide seeds, insects and other food in fence posts or under roof shingles.
FOOD IN FOCUS
While often found foraging on the ground or on tree trunks, this brilliant bird is a rare sight to behold at backyard feeders in the cooler months. They eat insects, seeds, corn, nuts (acorns, beechnuts and pecans, especially), suet, and fruits including apples, berries, cherries, pears, grapes, mulberries and even poison ivy fruits.
HELP A BIRD OUT!
Emma says that according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, this stunning species “has experienced a cumulative decline of 70% between 1966 and 2014.” This is largely attributed to deforestation and habitat loss throughout its range of the northeast, southeast and central United States.
If you’re hoping to entice these bright beauties to your backyard, one of the best things you can do is to keep dead trees around for as long as it’s safe. In the wild, redheaded woodpeckers are attracted to deciduous woodlands with an open understory for nesting and foraging—the same type of mature forest now often found in decline.