The Red-headed Woodpecker is one of the most boldly beautiful birds in Michigan, and one of the easiest to identify — no other woodpecker has an entirely crimson head, and combined with a snow-white breast and a black back split by large white wing patches, it is unmistakable in flight or at rest. Striking and pugnacious, it defends territories vigorously and will even destroy other birds' eggs and compete aggressively for nest holes.
Unusually among woodpeckers, it is an accomplished flycatcher, darting out to snatch insects from the air, and it is also a dedicated acorn and nut eater that caches food in bark crevices and hollows for later — even wedging grasshoppers into tight cracks. Red-headed Woodpeckers favor open woodlands, oak savannas, orchards, and parkland with plenty of dead wood, and they have declined significantly with the loss of such habitat and standing deadwood. Their numbers in Michigan shift from year to year, tied partly to the acorn crop, and finding a family of these vivid birds remains a highlight for many birders.
An unusually varied woodpecker diet: it hawks flying insects from the air, gleans insects from bark and the ground, and eats large quantities of acorns, beechnuts, and other nuts and fruit. It caches nuts and even live insects in crevices and holes, one of the few woodpeckers to store food extensively.
It is unmistakable: an entirely bright red head, a clean white breast, and a black back with large white wing patches. No other Michigan woodpecker has a fully red head, so identification is straightforward.
A common mix-up. The Red-bellied Woodpecker has only a red cap and nape over a pale face and a barred back, not a fully red head. The Red-headed Woodpecker's entire head is crimson.
Loss of open woodland, oak savanna, and standing dead trees — which it needs for nesting and food storage — has driven long-term declines. Its numbers also swing from year to year with the acorn crop.
Juveniles have a plain brown head and neck through their first fall, with the big white wing patches already in place. The red hood grows in gradually over winter, so birds seen from August into early spring are often mottled brown and red.
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