Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied woodpecker

NPS Photo / Jeremy Stringfield

Melanerpes carolinus

Red-bellied woodpeckers are found throughout much of the eastern United states year-round. They eat a great deal of insects, but can also eat some seeds and nuts. They forage for most of their food in the trees and they'll sometimes catch insects in mid-air. Red-bellied woodpeckers also store nuts and seeds in the crevices of tree bark to consume during the winter.

Red-bellied woodpeckers build their nests in empty cavities in trees that they either excavate themselves or find already made. Females will lay an average of four to five eggs (but can lay as many as eight). Both parents will take turns incubating the eggs and will also share the responsibility of feeding the newborn chicks. The chicks may leave the nest three or four weeks after hatching but can continue being fed by the parents for several weeks after leaving the nest.

 

Did You Know?

• Males may start excavating several tree cavities, but the female will pick which cavity seems most suitable.
• Red-bellied woodpeckers in the north will only have one brood per year, while in the south they may have two or three.
• Woodpeckers drum into trees for a few different reasons: to search for food, establish nest cavities, or establish territories and attract mates.

 

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Red-bellied woodpeckers are often seen in the Big Thicket's pine forests.

NPS Photo / Scott Sharaga

 

Sources

Kaufman, K. (2001). Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Shackelford, C. E., Brown, R. E., & Conner, R. N. (2000). Red-bellied woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus. In: Poole, A.; Gill, F., eds. The Birds of North America, No. 500. Philadelphia, PA: The Birds of North America, Inc. 24 p.