ClipArt ETC
"Colaptes auratus. Golden-winged Woodpecker. Pigeon Woodpecker. Flicker. Yucker. High-holder. Back and exposed surfaces of wing-coverts and secondaries olive-brown with numerous black bars. Rump snowy-white; upper tail-coverts white, mixed with black. Primaries blackish, with golden shafts, and glossed with golden underneath, at their bases paler and more tawny yellow. Tail-feathers above black, their shafts and under surfaces golden, blackened at ends, the outermost with a few touches of yellow or white. Top of head, with back and sides of neck, ash, with a scarlet nuchel band (in both sexes). Sides of head, whole chin, throat, and fore-breast lilac-brown, with broad black cheek patches, these 'moustaches' wanting usually in the female. A broad black pectoral semi-lune. Other under parts shading from a lighter shade of the color of the breast into creamy-yellow, marked with numerous circular black spots. Bill and feet dark plumbeous. Iris brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Flicker

"Colaptes auratus. Golden-winged Woodpecker. Pigeon Woodpecker. Flicker. Yucker. High-holder. Back and…

While a woodpecker is drilling, the two parts of the bill are closed together, making a wedge-pointed drill, and at the same time a snug case for the insect-catcher.

Woodpecker

While a woodpecker is drilling, the two parts of the bill are closed together, making a wedge-pointed…

A genus of birds belonging to the climbers, and so called from their habit of pecking into trees in search of insects. The body is quite slender, the beak long and powerful, the tongue pointed, and the tail stiff.

Woodpecker

A genus of birds belonging to the climbers, and so called from their habit of pecking into trees in…

The woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks are a family, Picidae, of near-passerine birds . Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia and New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known to live in desert areas.

Woodpecker

The woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks are a family, Picidae, of near-passerine birds . Members of this…

"Asyndesmus torquatus. Lewis' Woodpecker. Lared Woodpecker. Adult: Upper parts, including wings and tail, flanks and crissum, green-black with intense bronzy lustre, especially on the back - this iridescence like that of Quiscalus aneus almost. Face dark crimson, in a patch of velvety feathers around bill and eyes. A narrow distant collar around back of neck, and breast, hoary bluish-gray, gradually brightening behind on the under parts to intense rose-red or lake, delicately pencilled in hair lines with the hoary-gray. No white on wings or tail, their under surfaces simply black. Bill blackish; feet greenish-plumbeous. Iris brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Lewis' Woodpecker Head

"Asyndesmus torquatus. Lewis' Woodpecker. Lared Woodpecker. Adult: Upper parts, including wings and…

The skull of a woodpecker.

Woodpecker Skull

The skull of a woodpecker.

This illustration shows the special development of tongues of woodpeckers; a, skull of flicker, showing root of tongue extending to tip of bill; b, head of hairy woodpecker, showing root of tongue curving around eye.

Woodpecker Tongue

This illustration shows the special development of tongues of woodpeckers; a, skull of flicker, showing…

Great Black Woodpecker (Drycopus martius). This bird of one of the largest of its tribe, black with a scarlet crest, and resembles somewhat the ivory-billed and pileated woodpeckers of the United States. It inhabits northerly portions of Europe.

Great Black Woodpecker

Great Black Woodpecker (Drycopus martius). This bird of one of the largest of its tribe, black with…

"Sphyropicus thyroides. Brown-headed Woodpecker. Black-breasted Woodpecker. Red-throated Woodpecker. Williamson's Woodpecker. Adult: Glossy black, including all the tail-feathers. Belly gamboge yellow. A narrow scarlet patch on the throat. Upper tail-coverts, a broad oblique bar on the wing-coverts, a post-ocular stripe, a stripe from nostrils below eye and ear, and small, in part paired, spots on the quills, white. Lining of wings, sides of body, flanks and crissum varied with white, leaving the black in bars and cordate spots. Bill slate-color; feet greenish-gray; iris reddish-brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Brown-headed Woodpecker

"Sphyropicus thyroides. Brown-headed Woodpecker. Black-breasted Woodpecker. Red-throated Woodpecker.…

"Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi. Californian Woodpecker. Glossy blue-black; rump, bases of all the quills, edge of the wing, and under parts from the breast, white; sides with sparse black streaks; forehead squarely white, continuous with a stripe down in front of hte eyes and thence broadly encircling the throat, there becoming yellowish; this cuts off the black around base of bill and on the chin completely; crown in the male crimson from the white front, in the female separated from the white by a black interval; frequently a few red feathers in the black breast-patch, which is not sharply defined behind, but changes by streaks into the white of the belly. Bill black; eyes white, often rosy, creamy, yellowish, milky, bluish, or brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Californian Woodpecker

"Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi. Californian Woodpecker. Glossy blue-black; rump, bases of all the quills,…

The woodpeckers are typical climbers, with two toes turned forward and two backward, (zygodactyl).

Downy Woodpecker

The woodpeckers are typical climbers, with two toes turned forward and two backward, (zygodactyl).

"Picus pubescens. Downy Woodpecker. Usually 6-7 long; outer tail-feathers barred with black and white. Exactly like P. villosus, except in these respects. Length 6.00-7.00; entent 11.00-12.00; wing 3.50-4.00; tail under 3.00; bill about .66; whole foot 1.25." Elliot Coues, 1884

Downy Woodpecker

"Picus pubescens. Downy Woodpecker. Usually 6-7 long; outer tail-feathers barred with black and white.…

"Picus major. European Spotted Woodpecker. Bill more or less nearly equal to head in length, stout, straight, truncate at tip, bevelled toward end, with sharp culmen and distinct lateral ridges on upper mandible; at base rather broader than high, with large nasal tufts hiding the nostrils; culmen, commissure and gonys straight or nearly so. Feet with the outer posterior longer than outer anterior toe; inner anterior intermediate between these. Wing long, pointed by the 4th, 3d, and 5th quills; 2d decidedly shorter (shorter than 7th, except in P. borealis); 1st fairly spurious. Species of medium and small size. All black and white (one brown-backed), the back striped or barred, the wings with numerous small round white spots on the quills; Male with red on the head." Elliot Coues, 1884

European Spotted Woodpecker

"Picus major. European Spotted Woodpecker. Bill more or less nearly equal to head in length, stout,…

The golden-winged woodpecker is known for burrowing its own holes into live trees to use as a nest.

Golden-Winged Woodpecker

The golden-winged woodpecker is known for burrowing its own holes into live trees to use as a nest.

Chiefly making its habitat in Northern Europe, the great black woodpecker uses its long, sharp bill to bore into trees in search of insects.

Great black Woodpecker

Chiefly making its habitat in Northern Europe, the great black woodpecker uses its long, sharp bill…

The great spotted woodpecker measures an average of nine and a half inches long, and is found throughout Europe.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The great spotted woodpecker measures an average of nine and a half inches long, and is found throughout…

A loud bird that uses it beak to bore holes in tree trunks to feed on bugs.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

A loud bird that uses it beak to bore holes in tree trunks to feed on bugs.

The green woodpecker is found throughout Europe, and uses its beak to make holes in tree trunks to roost in.

Green Woodpecker

The green woodpecker is found throughout Europe, and uses its beak to make holes in tree trunks to roost…

"Woodpecker is the popular name of the old Linnæan genus Picus, now greatly divided. Woodpeckers have a slender body, powerful beak, and protrusile tongue, which is sharp, barbed, and pointed, and covered with a glutinous secretion derived from glands in the throat, this coating being renewed every time the tongue is drawn within the bill. The tail is stiff and serves as a support when the birds are clinging to the branches or stems of trees. Woodpeckers are very widely distributed, but abound chiefly in warm climates. They are solitary in habit, and live in the depths of forests. Fruits, seeds, and insects constitute their food, and in pursuit of the latter they exhibit wonderful dexterity, climbing with astonishing quickness on the trunks and branches of trees, and when, by tapping with their bills, a rotten place has been discovered, they dig vigorously in search of the grubs or larvæ beneath the bark."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Green Woodpecker

"Woodpecker is the popular name of the old Linnæan genus Picus, now greatly divided. Woodpeckers…

A green colored woodpecker.

Green Woodpecker

A green colored woodpecker.

The foot of a Green Woodpecker, a bird belonging to the Scansores order. Scansores is an order of birds, popularly known as climbing birds. The most important of the families are the cuckoos, the woodpeckers and wry-necks, the parrots, the toucans, the trogons, the barbets, and the plantain-eaters.

Foot of a Green Woodpecker

The foot of a Green Woodpecker, a bird belonging to the Scansores order. Scansores is an order of birds,…

The head of a Green Woodpecker, a bird belonging to the Scansores order. Scansores is an order of birds, popularly known as climbing birds. The most important of the families are the cuckoos, the woodpeckers and wry-necks, the parrots, the toucans, the trogons, the barbets, and the plantain-eaters.

Head of a Green Woodpecker

The head of a Green Woodpecker, a bird belonging to the Scansores order. Scansores is an order of birds,…

"Picus villosus. Hairy Woodpecker. Spotted and lengthwise streaked, but not banded. Usually 9-10 long; outer tail-feathers wholly white. Back black, with a long white stripe down the middle. Quills and wing-coverts with a profusion of white spots; usually 6-7 pairs on the primaries, several on all the secondaries, and one or more on each of the coverts. Four middle tail-feathers black; next pair black and white; next two pairs white, as stated. Under parts white. Crown and sides of head black, with a white stripe over and behind the eye; another from the nasal feathers running below the eye to spread on the side of the neck; a scarlet nuchal band in the male, sometimes broken in two, wanting in the female. Young with the crown mostly red or bronzy, or even yellowish." Elliot Coues, 1884

Hairy Woodpecker

"Picus villosus. Hairy Woodpecker. Spotted and lengthwise streaked, but not banded. Usually 9-10 long;…

Side view of a woodpecker's head.

Woodpecker Head

Side view of a woodpecker's head.

"Campephilus principalis. Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Glossy blue-black; a stripe down side of neck, one at base of bill, the scapulars, under wing-coverts, end of secondaries and of inner primaries, the bill and nasal feathers white; feet grayish-blue; iris yellow. A long pointed crest, in the male scarlet faced with black, in the female black." Elliot Coues, 1884

Ivory-billed Woodpecker

"Campephilus principalis. Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Glossy blue-black; a stripe down side of neck, one…

It is not only to seek for food that Woodpeckers make holes in trees, but also to establish their nests, (Figuier, 1869).

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

It is not only to seek for food that Woodpeckers make holes in trees, but also to establish their nests,…

Common in England and distributed across Europe, the lesser spotted woodpecker measures about five and three-quarter inches in length.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Common in England and distributed across Europe, the lesser spotted woodpecker measures about five and…

"Dendrocopus minor, or Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, are the British representatives, The colours in this genus are black and white in varied proportions, with crimsons on the head and often on the lower parts; a small amount of buff and brown being not uncommonly added." A. H. Evans, 1900

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

"Dendrocopus minor, or Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, are the British representatives, The colours in this…

"Asyndesmus torquatus. Lewis' Woodpecker. Lared Woodpecker. Adult: Upper parts, including wings and tail, flanks and crissum, green-black with intense bronzy lustre, especially on the back - this iridescence like that of Quiscalus aneus almost. Face dark crimson, in a patch of velvety feathers around bill and eyes. A narrow distant collar around back of neck, and breast, hoary bluish-gray, gradually brightening behind on the under parts to intense rose-red or lake, delicately pencilled in hair lines with the hoary-gray. No white on wings or tail, their under surfaces simply black. Bill blackish; feet greenish-plumbeous. Iris brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Lewis' Woodpecker

"Asyndesmus torquatus. Lewis' Woodpecker. Lared Woodpecker. Adult: Upper parts, including wings and…

Found in Southern Europe, the middle spotted woodpecker has a black coat, with a crimson underside and a red spot on its head.

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Found in Southern Europe, the middle spotted woodpecker has a black coat, with a crimson underside and…

"Picus scalaris nutalli. Nuttall's Woodpecker. Similar; rather larger' more white, this prevailing on the back over the black bars; nape chiefly white; nasal tufts white; lateral tail-feathers, especially, sparsely or imperfectly barred. The Californian coast race, differing decidedly in some respects, and constantly; but connected with general series of ladder-backs. Barring restricted to the back proper, the hind neck being black, succeeded anteriorly by a white space adjoining the red, wanting in scalaris, where red joins black. Red chiefly confined to the occiput, the rest of the crown black, spotted with white. Lateral tail-feathers white, not barred throughout, having not 1-3 black bars, all beyond their middles, all but the terminal one of these broken. White postocular stripe running into the white nuchal area, but cut off from the white of the shoulders. White maxillary stripe enclosed in black as in scalaris, but this black continuous with the cervical black patch, which is not the case in scalaris. No Smoky-brown state of the under parts observed." Elliot Coues, 1884

Nuttall's Woodpecker

"Picus scalaris nutalli. Nuttall's Woodpecker. Similar; rather larger' more white, this prevailing on…

A wood pecker have the feathers of the pileum elongated and conspicuous.

Pilated Woodpecker

A wood pecker have the feathers of the pileum elongated and conspicuous.

A woodpecker common to Arizona. Usually nests in giant cactus.

Pitahaya Woodpecker

A woodpecker common to Arizona. Usually nests in giant cactus.

"Centurus carolinus. Red-bellied Woodpecker. Whole crown and nape scarlet in the male; nape only so in the female. Sides of head, and under parts, grayish-white, usually with a yellow shade, reddening on the belly; tail black, one or two outer feathers white-barred; inner web of central feathers white with black spots, outer web of the same black with a white space next the shaft for most of its length; white predominating on the rump. Bill and feet dusky plumbeous. Iris red." Elliot Coues, 1884

Red-bellied Woodpecker

"Centurus carolinus. Red-bellied Woodpecker. Whole crown and nape scarlet in the male; nape only so…

"Picus borealis. Red-Cockaded Woodpecker. Body spotted and crosswise banded, but not streaked. Head black on top, with a large silky white auricular patch embracing the eye and extending on the side of the neck, bordered above in the male by a scarlet stripe not meeting its fellow on the nape; nasal feathers and those on the side of the jay white; black of the crown connected across the lores with a black stripe running from the corner of the bill down the side of the breast in black spots continued less thickly along the whole side and on the crissum; under parts otherwise soiled white. Central tail-feathers black; others white, black-barred. Back and wings barred with black and white, the larger quills and many coverts with the white bars resolved into paired spots. Female lacking the red cockade. A peculiar isolated species; wings longer and more pointed than usual in this genus." Elliot Coues, 1884

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

"Picus borealis. Red-Cockaded Woodpecker. Body spotted and crosswise banded, but not streaked. Head…

The Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, is a small or medium-sized woodpecker from temperate North America. Their breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the eastern-central United States.

Red-Headed Woodpecker

The Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, is a small or medium-sized woodpecker from temperate…

"Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Red-headed Woodpecker. Tricolor. Adult: Beautifully tricolor with "the red, white, and blue." Back, wings and tail glossy blue-black; secondaries, upper tail-coverts, under wing-coverts, under parts from the breast, and ends of some outer tail-feathers, white. Whole head, neck and fore breast crimson, usually black-bordered where adjoining the white. The white of hte wings and rump is pure; that of belly usually tinged with ochraceous or reddish; the white quills have black shafts. The red feathers are stiffish and somewhat bristly in their colored portions. The gloss is sometimes green instead of blue. Bill and feet dusky horn-color. Iris brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Red-headed Woodpecker

"Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Red-headed Woodpecker. Tricolor. Adult: Beautifully tricolor with "the…

"Sphyropicus thyroides. Brown-headed Woodpecker. Black-breasted Woodpecker. Red-throated Woodpecker. Williamson's Woodpecker. Adult: Glossy black, including all the tail-feathers. Belly gamboge yellow. A narrow scarlet patch on the throat. Upper tail-coverts, a broad oblique bar on the wing-coverts, a post-ocular stripe, a stripe from nostrils below eye and ear, and small, in part paired, spots on the quills, white. Lining of wings, sides of body, flanks and crissum varied with white, leaving the black in bars and cordate spots. Bill slate-color; feet greenish-gray; iris reddish-brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Red-headed Woodpecker

"Sphyropicus thyroides. Brown-headed Woodpecker. Black-breasted Woodpecker. Red-throated Woodpecker.…

From the woodpecker family, the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is known for drilling holes in birch trees.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

From the woodpecker family, the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is known for drilling…

"Picus martius, the Black Woodpecker, an inhabitant of the pine-forests of Europe and Asia to Japan, quite erroneously asserted to have occurred in England. The colour is black with exception of a red head, while the feathering extends down two-thirds of the metatarsus in front." A. H. Evans, 1900 Distinction between the male and the female can be seen on the crown. The male's is entirely red, while the female's shows just a touch of red on the tip.

The Great Black Woodpecker

"Picus martius, the Black Woodpecker, an inhabitant of the pine-forests of Europe and Asia to Japan,…

"Sphyropicus varius. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Male: Crown crimson, bordered all around with black; chin, and breast black, enclosing a large crimson patch on the former (in the male; in the female this patch white); sides of head with a white line starting from the nasal feathers and dividing the black of the throat from a trans-ocular black stripe, this separated from the black of the crown by a white post-ocular stripe; all these stripes frequently yellowish. Under parts dingy yellow, brownish and and with sagittate dusky marks on the sides. Back variegated with black and yellowish. Wings black with a large oblique white bar on the coverts; the quills with numerous paired white spots on the edges of both webs. Tail black, most of the feathers white-edged, the inner webs of the middle pair, and the upper coverts, mostly white. Bill brownish; feet greenish-plumbeous; iris brown." Elliot Coues, 1884

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

"Sphyropicus varius. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Male: Crown crimson, bordered all around with black;…

The most common type of woodpeckers found in the United States, the red-headed woodpecker feeds on various fruits, as well as insects that inhabit the trees it frequents.

Redheaded Woodpeckers

The most common type of woodpeckers found in the United States, the red-headed woodpecker feeds on various…

"Picoïdes. Three-toed Woodpeckers. Three-toed: the hallux (1st toe) absent, the 4th toe reversed as usual in the family. Bill as in Picus proper, about as long as the head, stout, straight, with bevelled end and lateral ridges, and nasal tufts hiding the nostrils; very broad and much depressed at base, with the lateral ridges very low down, in most of their length close to and parallel with commissure; nostrils very near commissure; gonys about as long as from nostrils to end of bill. Wings very pointed; 1st quill spurious; 2d between 6th and 7th in length. Crown with a square yellow patch in the male; sides of head striped, of body barred, with black and white; under parts otherwise white; quills but not coverts with white spots; tail-feathers unbarred, the outer white, the central black. All the species of this genus are unquestionably modified derivatives of one circumpolar stock; the American seem to have become completely differentiated from the Asiatic and European, and further divergence seems to have perfectly separated arcticus from americanus; but dorsalis and americanus are still linked together. Elliot Coues, 1884

Three-toed Woodpeckers

"Picoïdes. Three-toed Woodpeckers. Three-toed: the hallux (1st toe) absent, the 4th toe reversed…

"Iynx torquilla, the Cuckoo's-mate or Snake-bird, is fairly common in England, and extends thence to Japan, Kordofan, and Senegal. The Wryneck may be distinguished from the typical Woodpeckers by their soft tails without spiny shafts, and naked nostrils with a partial covering. The plumage shews a particular mixture of black , brown, grey, and white, somewhat similar to the Nightjar." A. H. Evans, 1900

A Wryneck Sitting on a Tree

"Iynx torquilla, the Cuckoo's-mate or Snake-bird, is fairly common in England, and extends thence to…