What Do Woodpeckers Eat in the Winter?

Several varieties of woodpeckers can be found throughout the United States. Their winter diet varies depending on the specific type of woodpecker and what part of the country they spend the winter in. A woodpecker's winter diet may consist of a variety of acorns, nuts, berries, tree sap, ants, beetles, caterpillars, insect larvae, spiders and even small rodents.

  1. Acorns and Nuts

    • The red-headed woodpecker can be found in southwest Texas during the winter months. They often hide acorns in cracks and crevices of wood and shingles for the winter months. The acorn woodpecker and Lewis's woodpecker also hoard acorns for winter. They drill holes in trees, fence posts, utility poles, buildings and even car radiators to store acorns for winter. The woodpeckers pack the acorns tightly so squirrels cannot get them. They also feed on pine nuts.

    Insects and Spiders

    • The pileated woodpecker resides in midwestern and eastern parts of the United States. There is a large population of the pileated woodpecker in Washington state. They are the largest woodpecker in the United States. Their winter diet consists of wood-boring insects such as carpenter ants and long-horned beetles, nuts and fruit. The red-headed woodpecker stores insects such as grasshoppers in wood and shingles to eat during the winter. Some woodpeckers also feed on spiders during the winter months.

    Fruit and Berries

    • There are three types of northern flicker woodpeckers: northern flicker, eastern flicker and western flicker. Their winter diet consists mainly of fruit. They prefer to find their food on the ground, such as fallen cherry seeds and berries. The red naped sapsucker woodpecker and the yellow-bellied sapsucker woodpecker spend their winters in orchards and pine oak woodlands and often feed on fruit in the winter months.

    Tree and Plant Sap

    • Sapsucker woodpeckers lick the sap from trees using small hairlike projections on the tip of their tongue. Gila woodpeckers spend their winter months in warm climate areas such as New Mexico and Arizona where they feed on the sap of cactus plants.