Red-headed woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) is a bird in the family Picidae, order Piciformes. It is a small, sedentary invertivore that lives in forest, and adults typically weigh about 71.6 g.
Quick facts about the red-headed woodpecker
Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern (LC), a category that is not threatened.
- Weight
- 71.6 g – 80 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 19 cm – 25 cmsrc for Length
- Wingspan
- 42.5 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 9.92 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 10 years
- Main food
- arthropods, fruits, seedssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the red-headed woodpecker?
Where does the red-headed woodpecker live?
Not recorded
What is the red-headed woodpecker?
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.
From the Wikipedia article “Red-headed woodpecker” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-headed_woodpecker&oldid=1383595123), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the red-headed woodpecker endangered?
The red-headed woodpecker is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the red-headed woodpecker classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyPicidae
- genusMelanerpes
- SpeciesMelanerpes erythrocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Melanerpes erythrocephalus caurinus, Melanerpes erythrocephalus erythrocephalus, Picus cinereus, Picus erythrocephalus
Other names and names in other languages (44)
- Flag birdEnglish
- Flying checker-boardEnglish
- JellycoatEnglish
- Shirt-tail birdEnglish
- ShirttailEnglish
- FachalaAlabama
- Speg penn ruzBreton
- picot cap-roigCatalan
- ᏓᎳᎳCherokee
- Vóo'koomaCheyenne
- datel červenohlavýCzech
- cnocell bengochWelsh
- Rødhovedet SpætteDanish
- RotkopfspechtGerman
- ruĝkapa pegoEsperanto
- Ruĝkapa melanerpoEsperanto
- Carpintero cabecirrojoSpanish
- Carpintero de cabeza rojaSpanish
- punapea-rähnEstonian
- punapäätikkaFinnish
- pic à tête rougeFrench
- Cnagaire ceanndheargIrish
- grimiznoglavi djetlićCroatian
- vörösfejű küllőHungarian
- Picchio testarossaItalian
- ズアカキツツキJapanese
- raudongalvis tamsianugaris genysLithuanian
- sarkangalvas dzenisLatvian
- Tsįįłkaałii bitsiiʼ łichíʼígííNavajo
- RoodkopspechtDutch
- rødhodespettNorwegian
- dzięciur krasnogłowyPolish
- pica-pau-de-cabeça-vermelhaPortuguese
- Красноголовый дятелRussian
- Красноголовый меланерпесRussian
- Ogwä:’Seneca
- tesárik červenohlavýSlovak
- Crvenoglavi američki detlićSerbian
- rödhuvad hackspettSwedish
- Kızıl başlı ağaçkakanTurkish
- Kırmızı Başlı AğaçkakanTurkish
- гіла червоноголоваUkrainian
- 紅頭啄木Chinese
- 红头啄木鸟Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red-headed woodpecker
Other species in the same genus Melanerpes.
Acorn woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorus
White woodpecker
Melanerpes candidus
Red-bellied woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus
Lewis's woodpecker
Melanerpes lewis
Gila woodpecker
Melanerpes uropygialis
Golden-fronted woodpecker
Melanerpes aurifrons
CompareRed-headed woodpecker vs Acorn woodpeckerRed-headed woodpecker vs White woodpeckerRed-headed woodpecker vs Red-bellied woodpeckerRed-headed woodpecker vs Lewis's woodpecker
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How much does a red-headed woodpecker weigh?
Adults typically weigh about 71.6 g. The highest value reported by our sources is 80 g.
What does the red-headed woodpecker eat?
It is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
What habitat does the red-headed woodpecker live in?
It lives in forest. It is sedentary and its foraging lifestyle is perching.
Is the red-headed woodpecker endangered?
No. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern (LC) in the global assessment, which is not a threatened category.
How many eggs does the red-headed woodpecker lay?
A clutch has 5 eggs, with 2 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 13 days.
How long does the red-headed woodpecker live?
Its lifespan is typically about 9.9 years, with a highest recorded value of up to 10 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-headed-woodpecker
“Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-headed-woodpecker.
@misc{red_headed_woodpecker_2026,
title = {Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-headed-woodpecker},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}