Melanerpes carolinus
red-bellied woodpecker

Red-bellied woodpeckers are found in the eastern half of the United States. Their range extends east from the wooded portion of the Great Plain states to the Atlantic coast and from the Gulf of Mexico to southern portions of Ontario and northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York. ()

Red-bellied woodpeckers are adaptable to a variety of forested habitats. Though they are most commonly associated with mature hardwood forests, they also thrive in mixed pine-hardwood forests, mesic pine flatwoods, heavily timbered bottomlands, swampy woods, and riparian forests. They usually live below 600 m elevation, but can be found at up to 900 m in the Apalachian mountains. ()

Red-bellied woodpeckers are medium sized birds with a distinctive black-and-white patterned back and a long, chisel-shaped bill. Adults weigh about 72.5 grams (range 56 to 91 g), and are 22.9 to 26.7 cm long. They have a wingspan of 38 to 46 cm. Males are about 8-9% larger, on average, than females. Two characteristics that distinguish red-bellied woodpeckers from woodpeckers native to North America are the black and white zebra pattern on their backs, and the red belly found in a small section of the ventral region. The face and belly are a dull grayish color. Male red-bellied woodpeckers have a bright red cap that covers from the forehead to the nape of the neck. Females have red only on the napes of their necks. The legs and zygodactyl feet (two toes forward, two toes back) are dark gray, and the chisel shaped bill is black.

Juvenile red-bellied woodpeckers are similar in appearance to adults, but have a horn-colored bill and lack any red on their heads. Unlike many birds, red-bellied woodpeckers do not show seasonal variation in the coloration. ()

The oldest known red-bellied woodpecker lived to be at least 12 years and 1 month old. ()

Red-bellied woodpeckers are non-migratory, though northern populations do show some seasonal movements southward during cold winters. They are diurnal and solitary, except during the breeding season when they consort with mates and offspring. Red-bellied woodpeckers defend a territory year round. The size of these territories varies with habitat quality, but estimates range from 0.016 to 0.16 square kilometers.

Walking, climbing and hopping are all forms of locomotion used by red-bellied woodpeckers. An interesting form of locomotion used by woodpeckers is called "hitching," hopping upward along a vertical surface such as a tree trunk interspersed with pauses to look for food.

Red-bellied woodpeckers have been observed playing when predators are not around. They may fly spontaneously and dodge among trees and shrubs as if evading a predator. Within-gender conflicts are common and usually involve a chase and collisions in mid-air. Red-bellied woodpeckers exhibit many threat displays, for example, raising their feathers on their neck and the crown of their head and spreading their wings and tail to appear larger to the threatening individual. In the presence of predators red-bellied woodpeckers sound alarm calls and retreat to nearby trees or shrubs. ()

Home Range

Red-bellied woodpecker home ranges that have been measured have ranged from 3.5 to 19 ha.

Red-bellied woodpeckers communicate using vocalizations, non-vocal sounds, and physical display. This is a very vocal species throughout the year, though they are most noisy during the breeding season. Red-bellied woodpeckers use six calls to communicate. They also communicate by drumming on dead trees, dead stubs and utility poles with their beaks. Drumming is used to announce ownership of a territory and in pair bond formation and maintenance. ()

Red-bellied woodpeckers are omnivorous. They eat a wide variety of fruits, nuts, seeds, berries and tree sap, as well as arboreal arthropods and other invertebrates. These include ants, flies, grasshoppers, beetle larvae and caterpillars. Red-bellied woodpeckers also take small vertebrates, including brown and green anoles, tree frogs, small fish, nestling birds and bird eggs.

Gleaning, probing, excavating, pecking, bark scaling, and hawking are all methods used by red-bellied woodpeckers to forage for food. Once captured, small food is consumed by swallowing it whole. Large prey is thrashed against a tree and pecked at. An interesting feeding adaptation of red-bellied woodpeckers is their tongue. Their tongue is long, cylindrical, pointed, sticky, and has a spear-like tip. It is well adapted for excavating prey from cracks.

Red-bellied woodpeckers forage primarily on the trunks and limbs of trees and snags. Studies have shown that males and females forage differently. Males forage primarily on trunks, while females forage primarily on tree limbs. Females also forage higher on the trees than males.

Red-bellied woodpeckers are known to store extra food for later consumption. Food items such as nuts, acorns, corn, fruits, seeds and insects are stored deep in pre-existing cracks and crevices of trees or posts. ()

Predators of adult red-bellied woodpeckers include birds of prey such as sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper's hawks, black rat snakes and house cats. Known predators of nestlings and eggs include red-headed woodpeckers, European starlings, pileated woodpeckers, gray rat snakes and black rat snakes.

When approached by a predator, red-bellied woodpeckers either hide from the predator, or harass it with alarm calls. They defend their nests and young aggressively, and may directly attack predators that come near the nest.

Red-bellied woodpeckers affect the populations of the animals they eat. They also provide food for their predators. They host at least two species of mites, Menacanthus precursor and Philopterus californiensis.

Red-bellied woodpeckers compete for food with blue jays and several other species of woodpeckers. They compete for nest sites with red-cockaded woodpeckers, European starlings, northern flickers, flying squirrels, red-headed woodpeckers and downy woodpeckers. Abandoned red-bellied woodpecker nest holes are used by a variety of other cavity-nesting birds and mammals. ()

There are no known adverse effects of red-bellied woodpeckers on humans.

Red-bellied woodpeckers help to control insects that are considered pest species. ()

Red-bellied woodpecker populations appear to have grown in recent years. Because this species can inhabit a variety of forest types and stages, it is more adaptable and less likely to be threatened or endangered than other woodpecker species. This species' success may be partially attributable to it's ability to adapt to the environment provided by spreading suburbs in many areas. There are an estimated 10,000,000 red-bellied woodpeckers across the geographic range. This species is protected under the U.S. Migratory Bird Act. ()