Red-headed Woodpecker

Description:

Male and female red-headed woodpeckers look alike. The entire head, neck, throat and upper breast are bright red. The wings and tail are bluish-black, and there are large square areas of white on the rear part of their wings and upper rump. The white on the wings makes them especially noticeable during flight. Immature birds also possess the white patches on their wings. However, immature red-headed woodpeckers have a buffy-brown head and neck, which becomes red after the first molt.

Habitat:

It inhabits mature lowland forest with dead trees for nesting, open areas for fly-catching and a relatively open understorey. It is strongly aggressive, particularly in relation to the defence of food storage sites, and is interspecifically territorial against the Red-bellied Woodpecker M. carolinus3. It is omnivorous, eating a high proportion of animal matter in spring, but seeds predominate in winter. It breeds from April to September.

Notes:

This Red-headed Woodpecker was spotted at the top of a dead tree (hence, the poor pictures). We were hiking in the cabin area of the Natchez Trace State Park in Wildersville, TN. We saw about six different Red-heads while hiking that day.