5 Amazing Species Of Woodpeckers In North Carolina

In this post, I will share and discuss with you 5 amazing species of woodpeckers that you can find in North Carolina. According to research, nine species of woodpeckers have been recorded in North Carolina, and I only consider five to be amazing.

However, Here are some of the species of woodpeckers in North Carolina:

• Red-Headed Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Downy woodpecker
• Red-Cockaded woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker

These birds are Little to medium-sized, and they have long tongues and chisel-like beaks that are used to snag insects. Plus, they also have short legs and stiff tails.

Some only have three toes, some species have feet with two toes facing forward and two backward, while others have both. Also, the behavior of many woodpeckers is to tap their beaks loudly on tree trunks.

With that said, this post will reach you something about;

• Sizes and shapes
• Color
• Habitat
• Their behavior
• Feeding

Let’s get to it.

READ: Do Penguins Have Knees? (In-Depth Explanation)

1.  Red-Headed Woodpecker

Mostly, North America’s temperate regions are home to the medium-sized red-headed woodpecker. Southern Canada, eastern central United States, and open land make up its breeding habitat.

And the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has downlisted it from near threatened to least concern on the Red List of Threatened Species.

Note, It is important to distinguish the red-headed woodpecker from the red-bellied woodpecker, which is comparable in size but has a vivid orange-red crown and neck.

The red-bellied woodpecker is called for the mild reddish flush of its lower abdomen and has a patterned black and white back rather than the entire black one of the red-headed woodpecker. Also, adults are tricolored with a red head and neck, a white belly, and a black back and tail.

The wings are black with white secondary remiges, and the plumage of adult males and females is the same. While the patterns of juveniles are similar, their heads are gray, and above their shoulders, red-headed woodpeckers are red.

And in terms of size, the length of both sexes ranges from 19 to 25 cm (7.5 to 9.8 in), and their wingspan is 42.5 cm (16.7 in). They weigh an average of 76 g and range in weight from 56 to 97 g (2.0 to 3.4 oz) (2.7 oz).

The tail measures 6.6-8.5 cm (2.6-3.3 in), the beak measures 2.1-3 cm (0.83-1.18 in), and the tarsus measures 1.9-2.5 cm. Each wing measures 12.7-15 cm (5.0-5.9 in) (0.75–0.98 in). In fact, the highest life in the wild is 9.9 years.

In addition, the omnivorous red-headed woodpecker consumes a variety of foods, including insects, seeds, fruits, berries, nuts, and, on rare occasions, small rodents and even other birds’ eggs.

Plants make up around two-thirds of its diet. However, the acorn woodpecker, downy woodpecker, and red-bellied woodpecker are the only three additional species of woodpecker that exhibit this behavior.

They have a history of hiding food in cracks, fissures, and tree bark, and they are well-fed all year long as a result. A mature male red-headed woodpecker will set up a territory and start calling and drumming to entice a partner during the breeding season.

After a male and a female have coupled up, it is thought that their connection will be largely monogamous and that they will stay together for several breeding seasons.

Since there have been allegations of polygyny, it is unclear whether these relationships are monogamous. Plus, the parents are very territorial when they are in an established territory.

READ: 5 Most Common Species Of Owls In North Carolina

2. Red-Bellied Woodpecker

The medium-sized red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) is a member of the Picidae family of woodpeckers.

While it may be found as far south as Florida and as far north as Canada, it primarily breeds in the eastern United States.

It should not be mistaken with the red-headed woodpecker, a distinct species of woodpecker in the same genus with a red head and neck and a full black back and white belly, even though it has a vibrant orange-red crown and nape.

The name “red-bellied” refers to the mild reddish hue on the bottom underbelly of the animal. The face and underparts of adults are primarily light gray, while their back, wings, and tail are banded with black and white.

Mature males have a red crown that extends from the bill to the nape; females have red patches above the bill and on the nape. In the outdoors, it might be challenging to discern the bird’s distinctive scarlet belly that gives it its name.

While they measure 22.85 to 26.7 cm (9.00 to 10.51 in) in length, 38 to 46 cm (15 in), and 2.0 to 3.2 oz in weight (56–91 g), Red-bellied woodpeckers make loud, distinctive cries and are noisy birds.

According to descriptions, calls feature the alternating br-r-r-r-t sound and sound like churr-churr-churr or thraa-thraa-thraa. Both sexes call, however, males often call and drum more often than females.

Often, these woodpeckers “drum” to attract mates. To communicate with possible partners, they tap on hollow trees as well as on aluminum roofs, metal guttering, and transformer boxes in urban settings.

With that said, Foraging is crucial to an animal’s capacity for survival and reproduction, just like it is for all other species. To exhibit its foraging activity, the red-bellied woodpecker catches or stores food.

The woodpecker drills into bark or pierces tree trunk fissures using its beak as a chisel. It also uses its long tongue in this manner to extract beetles and other insects from the tree.

This habit is also seen when animals store food from other creatures by burying it deep inside tree crevices or beneath the bark.

READ: 7 Species Of Owls In South Carolina

In fact, the red-bellied woodpecker spends 20% to 69% of its time feeding on dead or rotting trees, according to research by Williams in 1975, and Breitwisch in 1977.

3. Downy Woodpecker

The smallest species of woodpecker in North America is the downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescent). They vary from 14 to 18 cm in length (5.5 to 7.1 in).

Except for the deserts in the southwest and the northern tundra, downy woodpeckers are primarily found in forested areas throughout the United States and Canada.

The bird builds its nests in tree cavities and eats mostly insects as a supplement to seeds and berries. While they are not closely related, the downy and hairy woodpeckers seem very much alike.

Native to North America, downy woodpeckers may be found in deciduous forests. Except for the southwestern deserts and the northern tundra, their range encompasses most of the United States and Canada.

However, the majority of birds are year-round inhabitants, while some from the north may migrate farther south; those from hilly locations could descend.

One amazing thing about Downy woodpeckers is that they build their nest in a hole they create in a dead tree or limb. They nest in tree cavities throughout the winter.

During the summer and winter, downy woodpeckers feed on trees by plucking at the bark’s surface. Though Insects are their main food source, they also eat seeds and berries too.

They are a natural predator of the European corn borer, a moth whose population control and crop losses cost the US agricultural sector more than $1 billion annually.

And they are especially common in winter in suburban backyards with established trees, where they eat suet and shelled peanuts from mesh bird feeders.

4. Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

The red-cockaded woodpecker is a small to medium-sized species that is in between the two most common woodpeckers in North America in terms of size (the downy and hairy woodpeckers).

This species weighs between 40 and 56 g and measures 18 to 23 cm (7.1 to 9.1 in) in length and 34 to 41 cm (13 to 16 in) across the wings (1.4–2.0 oz).

The wing chord is 9.5-12.6 cm (3.7-5.0 in), the tail is 7-8.2 cm (2.8-3.2 in), the bill is 1.9-2.3 cm (0.75-0.91 in), and the tarsus is 1.8-2.2 cm among the standard measurements (0.71–0.87 in).

READ: 10 Species Of Owls You Can Find In Michigan

Its back is bordered with horizontal black and white stripes. The most distinctive characteristic of the red-cockaded woodpecker is a black crown and neck that surround broad white cheek patches.

The male has a little red stripe called a cockade on either side of its black hat, which gives it its name. The male is rarely seen, probably only during the mating season and times of territorial defense.

The species is classified as Endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Near Threatened by the IUCN.

The primary food sources for the red-cockaded woodpecker include ants, beetles, cockroaches, caterpillars, wood-boring insects, and spiders, with occasional fruit and berries rounding out their diet.

Although they occasionally feed on hardwoods and even corn earworms in cornfields, they mostly browse on pines, with a predilection for tall trees.

Territorial, non-migratory, cooperative breeders and red-cockaded woodpeckers usually stick with the same spouse for several years. Plus, April to June is the nesting season.

In the breeding male’s roost cavity, the breeding female lays three to four eggs. The little white eggs are incubated by group members for 10 to 13 days.

Traditionally, the southeastern United States’ range of this woodpecker included Florida, New Jersey, and Maryland in the east, eastern Texas and Oklahoma in the west, and Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee in the interior.

From Florida through Virginia, west to southeast Oklahoma, and east to Texas, there are thought to be 12,500 birds, or about 5,000 groups, of red-cockaded woodpeckers.

This is only approximately 1% of the woodpecker’s original population (over 1 million individuals at one point). In Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, and Tennessee, they have become locally extinct (extirpated).

5. Hairy Woodpecker

A medium-sized woodpecker known as the hairy woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) may be found in most of North Carolina.

Its length is roughly 250 mm (9.8 in) and its wingspan is 380 mm (15 in). Back then, the IUCN had classified the hairy woodpecker as a species of least concern due to its expected population of around nine million people in 2020.

Plus, several sources on nomenclature, such as the eBird/Clements checklist, classify this species as belonging to the genus Dryobates.

READ: Are Ducks Mammals Or Amphibians? (Explained)

However, the mature deciduous woods of the Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, and the United States are home to the hairy woodpecker.

The Turks and Caicos Islands and Puerto Rico have a vagrant, and In a hole, they make in a tree, mating pairs will typically lay about four white eggs after mating.

Trust me, the majority of these birds live there year-round. Birds in mountainous regions may migrate further south, whereas those in the far north may do so by moving to lower elevations.

Additionally, these birds feed on trees, either removing bark or digging beneath the surface to find insects. Plus, they mostly consume insects, although they also occasionally consume tree sap, fruits, berries, and nuts.

They prey on the European corn borer, a moth whose population control and crop losses cost the US agricultural sector more than $1 billion yearly.

Conclusion

Woodpeckers are great birds with lots of different amazing characteristics, and one thing that caught my interest is their call. Whatever it is, these birds are one of those woodpecker birds that have been identified in North Carolina.