The Four Keys to ID
- Size & Shape
A medium-sized woodpecker with a trim body, a short, sharp bill, rather long wings, and long tail.
Relative Size
Larger than a Downy Woodpecker, smaller than a Northern Flicker; similar in size to Hairy Woodpecker.
robin-sizedMeasurements
- Both Sexes
- Length: 8.3-9.1 in (21-23 cm)
- Weight: 1.9-2.3 oz (55-65 g)
© Noah Strycker / Macaulay Library
- Color Pattern
White-headed Woodpeckers are black with a mostly white head and white bases to the outer flight feathers (primary feathers). Males and juveniles have red on the crown.
© Steve Dowlan / Macaulay Library - Behavior
Forages by clinging to pine cones and prying out or hammering out seeds, also by flaking bark and probing pine needle clusters for insects, especially during the breeding season. Also digs rows of shallow holes in trees (“sapwells”) in order to eat sap.
- Habitat
Nests in mountain forests, especially where ponderosa pine and sugar pine are abundant.
© David Hollie / Macaulay Library
Regional Differences
Ornithologists recognize two subspecies: the widespread albolarvatus and the range-restricted gravirostris of the southern California mountains, which has a larger bill than albolarvatus.
