Red-cockaded Woodpecker Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesRed-cockaded Woodpecker
Adult
Small woodpecker with black-and-white ladder striped back and a white cheek. Males have a tiny, nearly invisible red streak (“cockade”) at the upper border of the cheek.
© Shailesh Pinto / Macaulay LibraryTexas, November 20, 2020Adult
Hitches up trees using its feet to grip the bark and its stiff tail feathers for balance. Picks at live trees for insects and to make the sticky pine resin flow from the tree where the nest is located.
© Larry Arbanas / Macaulay LibraryTexasNot all videos have sound
Adult
Small black-and-white woodpecker with a ladder of stripes up the back and distinctive white cheeks.
© Ken Janes / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, January 15, 2018Habitat
A habitat specialist of the Southeast’s once-vast longleaf pine stands with little understory.
© Nathaniel Sharp / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, March 10, 2018Similar SpeciesDowny Woodpecker
Male (Eastern)
Downy Woodpeckers have a large white stripe down the center of the back instead of the Red-cockaded’s horizontal barring. They also lack the Red-cockaded’s large white cheek patch.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryRhode Island, February 02, 2017Similar SpeciesHairy Woodpecker
Male (Eastern)
Hairy Woodpeckers have a large white stripe down the center of the back instead of the Red-cockaded’s horizontal barring. They also lack the Red-cockaded’s large white cheek patch.
© Jean-Sébastien Guénette / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, February 26, 2016Similar SpeciesYellow-bellied Sapsucker
Male
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have a white wing patch that Red-cockaded Woodpeckers don't have.
© Margaret Dunson / Macaulay LibraryMichigan, May 25, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Woodpeckers(Order: Piciformes, Family: Picidae)
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