Red-bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes carolinus
Their tongues are barbed and can extend nearly two inches past the tip of their beak to extract grubs from deep wood.
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes carolinus
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Piciformes › Picidae › Melanerpes
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Deciduous forests, mixed woodlands, and suburban parks with mature trees.
- Diet
- Omnivorous; consumes insects, spiders, acorns, pine seeds, and wild fruits.
- Range
- Eastern United States, Southeastern Canada, Great Plains edge
- Size
- Length: 9-10.5 in; Wingspan: 13-16.5 in; Weight: 2-3.2 oz
- Lifespan
- 10-12 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss due to deforestation and competition for nesting cavities with European Starlings.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless to humans. Best enjoyed through binoculars as they forage on tree trunks. If one enters your yard, provide suet or orange halves to watch their unique feeding behavior.
The red-bellied woodpecker ( Melanerpes carolinus ) is a medium-sized woodpecker of the family Picidae. It breeds mainly in the eastern United States, ranging as far south as Texas and as far north as Canada. Its common name is somewhat misleading, as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on the head; the red-headed woodpecker, however, is another species that is a rather close relative but looks quite different.
Photo: froggymum, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/c5db8ca1-f9c6-4799-94b4-9e689bf29861.md