Woodpeckers are a family of birds found in forests, parks, and backyards across much of the United States. Their rapid on trees or even metal signs signals territory or helps them contact a mate. Familiar members include small Downy Woodpeckers in backyards and larger Pileated Woodpeckers in mature forests.
This small woodpecker is common in woods, parks, and backyards across most of the United States. Its bill is much shorter than the length of its head.
It resembles a larger Downy Woodpecker, but its bill is about as long as its head. It favors woods with larger trunks and branches.
Common in the eastern United States, it has a bold black-and-white barred back and red on the crown or nape. The pale reddish belly can be hard to see.
This large brown woodpecker often feeds for ants on the ground. In flight, look for a white rump and bright color under the wings and tail.
This crow-sized forest bird has a red crest and makes large rectangular feeding holes in dead wood. It occurs across much of the East and parts of the Pacific Northwest.
This migratory species drills neat rows of shallow sap wells. It breeds mostly in the North and winters across the Southeast and into Mexico and Central America.
Nuthatches have short tails and move headfirst down trunks as easily as they move up or sideways. Woodpeckers usually brace with a stiff tail and hitch upward while facing the top of the tree.
Why they get mixed upBoth groups cling to bark and search tree trunks for food.
Recorded year-round, every year
428,060 observations in the US · 10 years · for reference