Do Red-Bellied Woodpeckers Migrate?

The red-bellied woodpecker is medium-sized bird, about the size of a robin, commonly found in a wide range of areas throughout the United States. The red-bellied woodpecker is native to temperate regions of North America. This woodpecker is often confused with the rarer red-headed woodpecker and is similar to the golden-fronted woodpecker, but there are distinct differences that set the red-bellied woodpecker apart from the rest of the woodpecker family.

  1. Appearance

    • You can identify the red-bellied woodpecker by its unusual appearance. A black and white, zebra-striped pattern adorns its wings and back. A very faint, small reddish patch decorates its otherwise white belly and gives it its name. Males sport a bright red cap that stretches from their foreheads to the base of their necks. Females possess the bright red coloring only on the back of their necks. Juveniles lack the red coloring. Both genders have long, thick, black bills, grey legs and zygodactylous feet, meaning they have two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward. Their unusual feet allow them to perch and climb up tree trunks.

    Range

    • The red-bellied woodpecker's scientific name is Melanerpes carolinus because of its original abundance in North and South Carolina. Red-bellied woodpeckers have long inhabited the neighboring forests of Georgia and Virginia and have recently increased their range as far west as New Mexico, across the Great Plains, north to Ontario and New York and south to the Gulf of Mexico.

    Habitat

    • Red-bellied woodpeckers live in warm forests and wetlands where food is plentiful, specifically old hardwood forests, pine flatwoods, maple and poplar woods, swamps and river valleys. They are most common at elevations less than 2,000 feet.

    Migration

    • The red-bellied woodpecker is not technically considered a migratory bird. Woodpeckers build their nests within the relatively sheltered trunks of trees, which allows them to stay warm during cold weather. Because of the recent expansion of their breeding range, many woodpeckers are showing more migratory behavior during the coldest months of the year, moving south to the milder locations within their breeding territory over the winter.

      Some red-bellied woodpeckers have begun to over-winter in northern regions. Researchers speculate this behavior is linked to climate change and the abundance of food available from bird feeders. The expansion of the red-bellied woodpecker's range is causing wildlife experts some concern that this bird may displace native birds through aggressive behavior and increasingly broad preferences in food and habitat.