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Did You Know?
Red-headed woodpeckers catch insects on the wing — a foraging behavior so uncommon among woodpeckers that the species has been called "the most expert and persistent flycatcher in its family." Unlike pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, which find most of their insect prey by excavating dead wood or gleaning bark surfaces, red-headed woodpeckers perch on a snag or fence post, scan the surrounding air space for flying insects, launch from the perch in a swooping flight, catch the insect in the air, and return to the perch — the same sallying strategy that flycatchers, kingbirds, and phoebes…
If This Animal Could Talk...
"Watch closely, respect my space, and let my habitat explain the rest of the story."
Red-headed woodpeckers are the bird that made Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon fall in love with ornithology — a species so strikingly patterned that even people who cannot name a single other bird can identify the red-headed woodpecker from a moving car at highway speed. The entire head, neck, and throat glow solid crimson red. The back and wings run blue-black with enormous white patches that flash during flight like semaphore flags.
The belly and rump sit clean white between the red and the black, creating a tricolored pattern so bold that the species has earned nicknames including "flying checkerboard," "flag bird," "patriotic bird," and "shirt-tail bird." Melanerpes erythrocephalus — Greek for "black creeper with a red head" — looks like someone designed a woodpecker specifically to be noticed, and the bird has been obliging that design since long before Europeans arrived to appreciate the effect.
A Few More Facts
How they hunt and forage: Red-headed woodpeckers need snags for nesting, roosting, and food storage, and they need the open space around the snags for flycatching — the aerial insect-catching behavior that distinguishes this species from every other North Louisiana woodpecker. A dead tree in a dense forest provides nesting substrate but not the flight space a red-headed woodpecker needs to launch from a perch, catch a flying insect, and return. Red-headed woodpeckers catch insects on the wing — a foraging behavior so uncommon among woodpeckers that the species has been called "the most expert and persistent flycatcher in its family." Unlike pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, which find most of their insect prey by excavating dead wood or gleaning bark surfaces, red-headed woodpeckers perch on a snag or fence post, scan the surrounding air space for flying insects, launch from the perch in a swooping flight, catch the insect in the air, and return to the perch — the same sallying strategy that flycatchers, kingbirds, and phoebes use as their primary feeding method.
Live birth or eggs? no
When young are born: The transformation from juvenile to adult plumage occurs during the first winter and first spring, and a young bird in transition shows patches of red emerging through the brown head coloring in a pattern that looks like someone started painting and ran out of time.
What Is the Red-Headed Woodpecker Often Confused With?
Adult red-headed woodpeckers are unmistakable — the only North American woodpecker with an entirely red head. No other woodpecker in North Louisiana shows solid red from bill to breast without a single interruption of black, gray, or white on the head. Red-bellied woodpeckers, which birders constantly confuse with red-headed woodpeckers because both species include "red" and "woodpecker" in the name, show red only on the crown and nape while carrying a distinctly barred black-and-white back. Red-headed woodpeckers have a solid black back with no barring — a clean, unbroken black surface that creates the bold tricolor pattern (red head, black back, white belly and wing patches) visible from any angle. Body size runs 7.5 to 9.8 inches in length with a wingspan of about 16.5 inches — medium-sized among North Louisiana's woodpeckers, larger than a downy but smaller than a pileated. Weight averages about 2.5 ounces. Males and females look identical in plumage, with no external difference in the amount or intensity of red on the head — an unusual arrangement among woodpeckers, where sex differences in head coloring typically provide reliable field identification.
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Accessibility
Accessibility
Red-headed woodpeckers perch in the open on dead snags, utility poles, and bare treetops — exposed positions that make visual detection straightforward from considerable distance. That tricolor plumage (solid red head, black back, white belly) practically glows against any background. Visitors with low or no vision can listen for the loud, rolling "queeah" call and the rapid drumming, both of which carry well across the open habitats where the species spends most of its time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are red-headed woodpeckers common in North Louisiana? They are present year-round and breed locally, but populations have declined and are patchier than they once were.
How do I identify a red-headed woodpecker? Adults have an entirely red head, solid black back, white belly, and large white wing patches. No other North Louisiana woodpecker has that full red head.
Why are they declining? Loss of open woodland, snag removal, fire suppression, vehicle collisions, cavity competition, and predation pressures all contribute.
What habitat do they need? Open woodland with standing dead trees, snags, scattered mature trees, and open airspace for catching insects in flight.
What can landowners do to help? Leave standing dead trees where safe, maintain open woodland structure, support prescribed fire, and report sightings to eBird.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Red-Headed Woodpeckers live in North Louisiana?
Yes. North Louisiana sits within the year-round range of the red-headed woodpecker, and the species breeds across the region in open woodlands, bottomland forest edges, pecan orchards, parks, and any landscape with widely spaced trees and standing dead timber. In North Louisiana, red-headed woodpeckers remain present and breeding, but they occupy fewer territories and appear less frequently than they did a generation ago, and understanding why requires understanding what this particular woodpecker needs that North Louisiana's changing landscape provides less of every year.
No other woodpecker in North Louisiana shows solid red from bill to breast without a single interruption of black, gray, or white on the head.
How do you identify Red-Headed Woodpeckers?
Adult red-headed woodpeckers are unmistakable — the only North American woodpecker with an entirely red head. No other woodpecker in North Louisiana shows solid red from bill to breast without a single interruption of black, gray, or white on the head. Red-bellied woodpeckers, which birders constantly confuse with red-headed woodpeckers because both species include "red" and "woodpecker" in the name, show red only on the crown and nape while carrying a distinctly barred black-and-white back. Red-headed woodpeckers have a solid black back with no barring — a clean, unbroken black surface that creates the bold tricolor pattern (red head, black back, white belly and wing patches) visible from any angle. Body size runs 7.5 to 9.8 inches in length with a wingspan of about 16.5 inches — medium-sized among North Louisiana's woodpeckers, larger than a downy but smaller than a pileated. Weight averages about 2.5 ounces. Males and females look identical in plumage, with no external difference in the amount or intensity of red on the head — an unusual arrangement among woodpeckers, where sex differences in head coloring typically provide reliable field identification.
What does Red-Headed Woodpeckers eat?
Red-headed woodpeckers need snags for nesting, roosting, and food storage, and they need the open space around the snags for flycatching — the aerial insect-catching behavior that distinguishes this species from every other North Louisiana woodpecker. A dead tree in a dense forest provides nesting substrate but not the flight space a red-headed woodpecker needs to launch from a perch, catch a flying insect, and return.
Red-headed woodpeckers catch insects on the wing — a foraging behavior so uncommon among woodpeckers that the species has been called "the most expert and persistent flycatcher in its family." Unlike pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, which find most of their insect prey by excavating dead wood or gleaning bark surfaces, red-headed woodpeckers perch on a snag or fence post, scan the surrounding air space for flying insects, launch from the perch in a swooping flight, catch the insect in the air, and return to the
perch — the same sallying strategy that flycatchers, kingbirds, and phoebes use as their primary feeding method.
Is Red-Headed Woodpeckers dangerous to people?
No. This species is not dangerous to people when it is observed without handling or disturbance
