It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. The pictures show two very similar looking birds. The vast amounts of geographic areas of Pennsylvania offer plenty of options for woodpeckers and other birds to call home. Woodpeckers are part of the family Picidae, that also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. However, they also can damage homes made of stucco or similar material. Length, 11 to 12 inches; wingspread up to 20 inches (about the size of a blue jay). The head of an adult of this species is scarlet, and that of a juvenile, brown. Their colorful plumage makes them easily identifiable, as well as the drumming noise they make when hammering trees for food. Seven species are common to Pennsylvania, and a few others visit the state in winter. Nest: 8 to 80 feet up, often in an oak and occasionally in a fence post or utility pole. Our focus has always been … Typically the state lists seven woodpecker species, however that number has been known to jump to nine species on very rare occasions when two additional northern species, the Three-toed woodpecker and Black-backed woodpecker, make a southern road trip during the winter. They’ll even store extra rations in tree cavities and holes to last them throughout the winter. During this short pause, the bird loses a few feet of altitude. The downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) is the smallest North American woodpecker and can be found year-round throughout the continental United States and southern Canada. Unlike all the other Pennsylvania woodpeckers on our list, red-headed ones don’t remain in their territory throughout the year. Woodpeckers are a part of the Picidae family, which is a group of near-passerine birds. Due to forest felling and shooting, the species was an uncommon sight during the first half of the twentieth century. They’re greyish brown overall with black dots, bars, and crescents patterning their chests and undersides. Forgot account? As cavity nesters, some of these birds are good candidates for man-made bird houses. Woodpeckers feed mainly on wood-boring grubs, insects, insect eggs and pupae found in dead and live trees. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. Hollow sounds that echo from the woodpecker’s tapping probably signal the location of a wood borer’s channel and the bird can drill up to 100 strokes per minute to uncover the morsel. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. The tongue is nearly twice as long as its owner’s head and winds around the inside back of the skull when retracted. Drumming designates territory and can attract a mate. Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues used for capturing insects. Length, 5 to 6 inches; wingspread, up to 111/2 inches. They consume a large amount of plant material, nuts, and berries, and are the most likely species of woodpecker to visit backyard feeders. In Pennsylvania, these birds are more commonly found within a forested space. Its habit of flying low from tree to tree may make it vulnerable to collisions with vehicles. The male has a black “mustache” mark extending from the bill back onto the throat. Length, 7 to 10 inches; wingspread, 15 inches. While Downy Woodpeckers have a larger variety of foraging options, Hairy Woodpeckers take advantage of their longer, stronger bills to drill into trees to find insects — their primary food source. The hairy woodpecker looks like a downy woodpecker on steroids, being about the size of a starling. Visit Woodpeckers online for the best woodworking tools & woodturning tools for pro and amateur woodcraft enthusiasts! A woodpecker’s flight is undulating. They’re found year-round in Pennsylvania, favoring mature forests of deciduous and coniferous trees, though they live in young forests too. Two species of three-toed woodpeckers make up the genus Picoides: the northern three-toe (P. tridactylus), which ranges across the subarctic Northern Hemisphere and south in some mountains, and the black-backed three-toe (P. arcticus), found across forested central Canada.. Sexes are similar, but the female lacks the male’s small red patch on the back of the head. Though Red-headed Woodpeckers were once abundant throughout the eastern United States, their numbers have drastically declined and they’re no longer so common. Researchers believe loss of habitat is a contributing factor for the declines, but there may be other unknown forces at play. The pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. Carolina Chickadee Photo: Michele Black/Great Backyard Bird Count. Listen for a ringing call to tell if one is nearby. Woodpecker holes provide many cavity nesting bird species and other wildlife with nesting sites and den sites. Suitable forest habitat must include large trees for nesting cavities. Redheads store food in tree cavities during winter. They’re year-round woodpeckers in Pennsylvania and occupy most woodlands, especially those that feature open fields and spaces. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is one of seven woodpeckers that make their homes in Pennsylvania and the northeast. You might also be interested in these articles: For many of us, attracting woodpeckers to our feeders or yards is something we love. They also can be opportunistic in foraging opportunities and will visit bird feeders, corn cribs, and wild fruits. Flight is strong, with irregular wing flapping accompanied by white flashing of wing undersurfaces. Woodpeckers: Habitat: Groves, farm country, orchards, shade trees in towns, large scattered trees. They drum loudly and rapidly, then more slowly, trailing off softly at the end. After chopping exposes a woodborer’s cavity, the long, flexible tongue probes the crevice and grasps whatever insect or grub happens to be inside. 474 likes. Flickers, also known as yellow hammers, have brown backs, no white on the wings, a prominent black band high on the breast, and bright red on the nape of the neck. Flickers are considered “partial migrants” because some persist in winter and some may not migrate very far from their nesting grounds. The red- headed woodpecker is one of the most striking birds found in Pennsylvania. Like many woodpeckers, its flight is undulating. 5. Downy, hairy, and pileated woodpeckers cause the most damage to homes and other wooden structures. Nest: a gourd-shaped cavity excavated 8 to 40 feet up a tree; aspen, red maple and other softer woods and trees afflicted with tinder fungus are often chosen as nest sites, because the fungus creates a soft center that is easily dug out. Food: wood-boring larvae, moths, beetles, ants, aphids, spiders, poison ivy and dogwood fruits, berries, corn, apples, and acorns. (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), red-bellied woodpecker Their unique holes also provide shelter for other creatures including bats and owls. Also, sapsuckers tap in a distinctive rhythm, two or three series per minute, more of a tapping than the typical drumming of other species. Iowa woodpeckers nest in tree cavities, with access holes they carve out themselves.