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Red-Headed Woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus
© 2004 by Louise Brown
Dubbed “the patriot bird” because of its distinctive red, white and blue-black coloring, the Red-headed Woodpecker is delightful and distinctive, brash yet with a gentle sense of humor. Like other woodpeckers, they are very active and have a strong work ethic, busily foraging for food. The often are in the company of a mate or offspring, and the birds will call to each other, loud cries and “chuuurs”. They are not found frequently in GuilfordCounty but are unmistakable. The places these birds have been seen around Greensboro are mostly in the woods around the lakes north of town. They have been seen a number if times in StarmountForest, a park near HamiltonLake which is west of the Starmount Golf Course. A largish bird, about the size of a robin, it has a completely red head, white breast and rump, black wings and tail. When the wings are spread the lower halves (the secondaries) are white.
They range throughout the eastern US, from the Great Lakes south, breeding as far west as Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. They like larger, older trees, eat various insects and vegetable matter, especially forest mast, nuts that have fallen on the ground. They really like beechnuts and acorns. They prefer open forests, and will perch in snags, trees or branches that are dead. An area with water and numerous large, dead trees would be a highly likely spot to find them. They nest in cavities in these trees, as well as telephone poles and whatever else they can find.
Red Headed Woodpeckers have been declining over the years due to habitat destruction and the invasion of the European Starling, which competes for the nesting cavities.
To learn more about the birds of GuilfordCounty, please feel free to visit the web page of the Piedmont Bird Club.
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