Red-headed Woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus
- Class
- Bird
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 23,295
- Most observed in
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America. Its breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the east-central United States. It is rated as least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Endangered species, having been down-listed from near threatened in 2018. The red-headed woodpecker should not be confused with the red-bellied woodpecker, which is similar in size but has a vibrant orange-red crown and nape; the red-bellied woodpecker is named for the pale reddish blush of its lower belly and has a distinctly patterned black and white back rather than the solid black one of the red-headed woodpecker.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Red-headed woodpecker”.