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Red-bellied Woodpecker

Melanerpes carolinusOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Red-bellied Woodpecker Breeding Male Portrait
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Range Map for Red-bellied Woodpecker

Overview

Red-bellied Woodpecker: Medium woodpecker, black-and-white barred upperparts, pale gray-brown underparts with indistinct red wash on belly. Head has bright red crown and nape, pale brown face. White rump, white wing patches, and white-barred central tail feathers are visible in flight.

Range and Habitat

Red-bellied Woodpecker: Breeds from South Dakota, Great Lakes, and southern New England south to the Gulf Coast and Florida. Northernmost birds sometimes migrate south for winter. Inhabits open and swampy woodlands; comes into parks during migration and to feeders in winter.

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Listen:

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Voice Text

"churr-churr", "querr-querr", "chuck-chuck-chuck"

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Related Birds:

Gila Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Gilded Flicker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
.

Copyright © 2005 WBFI Research Foundation Bird database and its related content and media is Copyright (C) 2002 - 2005 Mitch Waite Group All rights reserved.

Family Woodpecker (Picidae)_blue
Species Melanerpes carolinus
Length9 - 10.5 Inches
Wingspan16.5 Inches

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker: Medium woodpecker, black-and-white barred upperparts, pale gray-brown underparts with indistinct red wash on belly. Head has bright red crown and nape, pale brown face. White rump, white wing patches, and white-barred central tail feathers are visible in flight.

● Song: "churr-churr", "querr-querr", "chuck-chuck-chuck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-bellied Woodpecker: Eats insects, fruits, vegetables, seeds, and sap from sapsucker drill wells.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-bellied Woodpecker: Three to eight white eggs are laid in tree cavity built by both parents, or in an abandoned hole of other woodpeckers. Incubation ranges from 11 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents (male at night, female during the day).

● Similar species: Red-bellied Woodpecker: Golden-fronted Woodpecker has black tail without white bars, yellow-orange nape, yellow patch at base of upper mandible, and indistinct yellow wash on belly.

Flight Pattern

Undulating flight with fairly rapid wing beats interspersed with periods of roller-coaster flight with wings folded.
Red-bellied Woodpecker Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Red-bellied Woodpecker: Breeds from South Dakota, Great Lakes, and southern New England south to the Gulf Coast and Florida. Northernmost birds sometimes migrate south for winter. Inhabits open and swampy woodlands; comes into parks during migration and to feeders in winter.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon to fairly common
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight2.4 Ounces