Bird Fact Sheet-Red-bellied Woodpecker

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Additional Information

Glossary

	Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
Red-bellied and other woodpeckers are important nest providers for many other species. The holes they excavate in dead trees, poles and fence posts are used by bluebirds, wrens, chickadees and titmice to name but a few. It is important for many bird and animal species that we leave dead trees whenever it's safe to do so!


Abundance: Common urban bird Length: 10 inches Weight: 2¾ ounces Wing Span: 16 inches General description: Diurnal, omnivore, cavity nester, altricial	Range:
Male red-bellied woodpeckers are medium sized birds that have red caps and hind necks, black and white barred backs and tails. Their belly feathers are off white with a reddish tinge. Females are similar to males but lack the red hind neck.

Sexual maturity : Less than 1 year
Mating season: Spring and summer. Red-bellied woodpeckers usually nest 2 or 3 times during a season.
Breeding territory: 1 pair per 14 acres
Gestation: Eggs hatch in 12-14 days, young fledge 24-27 days after that.
Number of young: 3-8, usually 4-5. Eggs are white and 1 inch long.
Diet: Insects, nuts, fruits and berries

Courtship between red-bellies includes mutual tapping and v-shaped flights. Most red-bellies remain year round. In urban areas their nests are often taken over by starlings after they have finished building them. They excavate a new nest hole each time they renest during the season.

Red-bellied woodpeckers are found in eastern Texas and U.S. They prefer forests, swamps or wooded suburban habitats.

Humans feel that dead trees are dangerous and remove them. This reduces the number of places that woodpeckers, and all the other wildlife that count on them for homes, can live. Woodpeckers sometimes use telephone poles in the place of dead trees. Occasionally they will try to excavate a nest through the wooden siding of someone’s home, or use the metal siding to increase the noise of their tapping to attract a mate.

It takes only 7 to 10 days for a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers to carve a home in a dead tree.
Red-bellied woodpeckers will occasionally use bird houses. Red-bellied woodpeckers have been known to store food in hollow trees.
You can attract red-bellied woodpeckers to bird feeders by providing them with peanuts.
The woodpeckers bill is a multi-use tool for food gathering and even more unusual, to get their courtship message out. Male woodpeckers do not sing well, so they use their heads, literally. In the spring, woodpeckers are especially attracted to any sound that resonates, including aluminum shed roofs and even the hoods of cars, much to the annoyance of their human owners.

Glossary
altricial - animals born with their eyes closed, weak, naked, and helpless
diurnal - active during the daytime
cavity nester - animal that uses or builds a nest in a hollow area of a tree or earthen bank
omnivore - animal that eats both plants and other animals

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Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus