The Wonderful World of Woodpeckers: Ten Species to Spotlight

Text and photos by Heather Cline 

Bearded Woodpecker, Tanzania

Woodpeckers are easy to recognize by the tapping sounds they make as they drill into trees. They do this to find food, mark their territory, or build nests. These birds aren’t just noisy—they help control insect populations, create homes for other animals, and offer great opportunities for wildlife photography.
In this post, I’ll introduce nine woodpecker species found across the American West. Each one has its own unique habits and features. Some store acorns, some nest in cactus, and some forage on the ground. Whether you’re hiking in the desert or watching birds in your backyard, these woodpeckers are worth noticing.

Acorn Woodpecker 

• Appearance: Clown-like face with a red cap, white forehead, and black mask.
• Habitat: Western oak woodlands, especially in California and Arizona.
• Behavior: Famous for creating “granary trees” where they store thousands of acorns in drilled holes. They live in cooperative groups with complex social structures.
• Fun Fact: These birds guard their acorn hoards fiercely and breed communally, with multiple males and females sharing parenting duties.
• Photo Tip: Look for trees with lots of drilled holes—these are their acorn storage sites. Use a longer lens to capture group interactions without disturbing them.

Gila Woodpecker 

• Appearance: Tan head and belly with bold black-and-white barring; males sport a red crown patch.
• Habitat: Sonoran Desert, nesting in saguaro cacti and desert trees.
• Behavior: Monogamous pairs excavate nest cavities in living cacti, which later become homes for other desert species.
• Diet: Insects, cactus fruit, nectar, and even small lizards.
• Photo tip: Focus on saguaro cacti—especially those with visible holes. Use rim light to highlight their barred plumage against the cactus texture.

Nuttall’s Woodpecker 

• Appearance: Black-and-white barred back with a red crown patch on males.
• Habitat: Oak woodlands of California.
• Behavior: Non-migratory and often overlooked due to its quiet foraging among dense foliage.
• Diet: Primarily insects, with occasional seeds and berries. Despite its oak affinity, it eats few acorns.
• Photo Tip: Listen for soft tapping and scan tree trunks carefully. They often forage quietly and blend into bark.

Downy Woodpecker 

• Appearance: Small size, white back, black wings with white spots; males have a red nape.
• Habitat: Widespread across North America in deciduous forests, parks, and backyards.
• Behavior: Acrobatic forager, often seen hanging upside down on twigs.
• Fun Fact: Despite its resemblance to the Hairy Woodpecker, it's not closely related—just a case of convergent evolution.
• They’re small and active, so use continuous autofocus and burst mode. Try photographing them on thin branches or feeders.

Arizona Woodpecker

• Appearance: Brown back (unusual for U.S. woodpeckers), white cheek patch, spotted underparts; males have a red crown spot.
• Habitat: Pine-oak woodlands in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
• Behavior: Spirals up tree trunks like a Brown Creeper, often joins mixed-species flocks in winter.
• Unique Trait: The only solid brown-backed woodpecker in the U.S.
• Photo Tip: Their brown coloring blends into tree bark, so look for movement rather than color. Use natural light to bring out their subtle tones.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker 

• Appearance: Black-and-white barred back resembling ladder rungs; males have a red crown.
• Habitat: Arid deserts, thorn forests, and pinyon-juniper woodlands.
• Behavior: Agile forager, often found in scrubby growth and desert washes.
• Diet: Insects and cactus fruit; nests in trees or even agave stalks.
• Photo Tip: Scan low trees and shrubs. Use a telephoto lens to isolate them against clean backgrounds like sky or cactus.

Red-Naped Sapsucker

• Appearance: Black-and-white plumage with red cap, throat, and nape; yellowish belly.
• Habitat: Aspen groves and mixed forests in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin.
• Behavior: Drills neat rows of sap wells in trees and returns to lap up the sugary sap.
• Ecological Role: Their sap wells attract hummingbirds and other species that feed on the sap and trapped insects.
• Photo Tip: Look for sap wells—horizontal rows of holes in tree bark. Wait for the bird to return and photograph it feeding.

Red-Naped Sapsucker and Acorn Woodpecker having a scuffle on a tree 

Northern Flicker

• Appearance: Brownish body with black spots, white rump, and either yellow or red underwings depending on region.
• Habitat: Open woodlands, parks, and yards across North America.
• Behavior: Unusual among woodpeckers for its ground-foraging habits—especially for ants.
• Subspecies: “Yellow-shafted” in the East, “Red-shafted” in the West; they interbreed in overlapping zones.
• Photo Tip: Use a lower angle to photograph them while feeding. Their spotted plumage and colorful underwings pop in soft light.

Gilded Flicker

• Appearance: Similar to Northern Flicker but with yellow underwings and a cinnamon crown.
• Habitat: Sonoran Desert, nesting in saguaro cacti.
• Behavior: Forages on the ground for ants and insects; nests in cavities excavated in cacti.
• Fun Fact: Hybridizes with Northern Flickers in overlapping zones, producing intermediate plumage.
• Photo Tip: Focus on saguaro cacti with nest holes. Use side lighting to bring out their golden wing tones.

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By learning more about these nine woodpeckers and how to photograph them, you can deepen your appreciation for their place in the wild and improve your skills behind the lens. So next time you hear that familiar tapping, take a moment to look closer. You might just find a great story waiting to be told through your camera.​​​​​