Red Headed Woodpecker Diet and Interesting Facts

The Red Headed Woodpecker's diet is quite fascinating. They primarily feed on insects, which make up about 90% of their diet.

One of the most interesting facts about Red Headed Woodpeckers is that they have a unique way of extracting insects from trees. They use their long, barbed tongues to catch insects and then pull them out of the tree bark.

Red Headed Woodpeckers are also known to eat some fruit and sap, but insects are their main source of nutrition. This is likely due to the abundance of insects in their forest habitats.

In the summer months, Red Headed Woodpeckers have been known to cache, or store, insects in tree crevices for later use. This behavior helps them survive during times when food is scarce.

Red-headed Woodpeckers eat a diverse diet that includes seeds, fruits, and insects. They consume a wide variety of insects, such as cicadas, beetles, midges, grasshoppers, and honeybees.

One-third of their diet consists of animal material, while two-thirds consists of plant material. They're extremely skilled at catching insects in the air, often locating them from a perch and then flying over to grab them.

In the summer, they forage up to 30 feet above the forest floor, while in the winter, they forage in the trees. They catch insects on warm winter days, but their diet mainly consists of nuts like beech nuts, pecans, and acorns.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are known to raid other birds' nests to eat nestlings and eggs. They also eat seeds, nuts, corn, and other types of fruit.

In the summer, they forage on the ground and up to 30 feet above the forest floor. In the colder months, they forage higher in the trees.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are known to store food, which is a unique behavior among woodpeckers.

They hide insects and seeds in various spots, such as cracks in wood, under bark, in fenceposts, and under roof shingles.

One-third of their diet consists of animal material, mostly insects like beetles, cicadas, and grasshoppers.

Grasshoppers are even stored alive, wedged into crevices so tightly that they cannot escape.

Red-headed Woodpeckers eat seeds, nuts, corn, berries, and other fruits, making up two-thirds of their diet.

Their insect diet includes honeybees, which is quite impressive given their skill as flycatchers.

Here's a breakdown of their diet:

The male Red-headed Woodpecker selects the site for a nest hole, while the female signals her approval by tapping around it.

Red-headed Woodpeckers often reuse a nest cavity several years in a row, which is unusual for woodpeckers.

The oldest recorded Red-headed Woodpecker lived to be at least 9 years, 11 months old, which is a remarkable age for a bird.