Woodpeckers - Facts for Kids

Life Cycle

Most woodpecker types lay between 3–6 eggs per clutch (group of eggs)!

Woodpecker eggs are pure white and glossy (shiny), unlike many other bird eggs that have spots or patterns!

Baby woodpeckers begin learning to peck gradually after leaving the nest, often by watching their parents and practicing nearby.

Young woodpeckers learn to drill holes by practicing on soft wood first!

Baby woodpeckers are born blind and featherless but develop (grow) quickly!

Young woodpeckers stay with their parents for about 3–4 weeks after leaving the nest!

Most woodpecker types find a mate (partner) and breed (have babies) when they are one year old!

Woodpecker pairs often return to the same nesting area year after year!

A woodpecker nest hole can take up to three weeks to complete (finish)!

Diet & Feeding

Woodpeckers use their sharp eyes, tapping sounds, and feeling beaks to find hidden insects inside tree trunks!

Some woodpeckers can eat hundreds or even up to 2,000 insects like ants in a single day!

Some woodpecker types love to drink tree sap, which they access (get to) by drilling small holes in the bark!

Woodpeckers help control pest populations (groups of harmful insects) in forests by eating harmful insects!

The Acorn Woodpecker can store up to 50,000 acorns in a single granary (storage) tree!

Some woodpeckers will catch flying insects in mid-air, like aerial acrobats (air performers)!

Woodpeckers can hammer on trees thousands of times a day — up to 12,000 pecks — and all the while, their sticky, barbed tongue flicks in and out like a bug-catching tool

A woodpecker’s favorite foods include ants, beetles, termites, and wood-boring insect larvae (baby insects)!

Some woodpecker types will visit bird feeders to eat suet, a special type of animal fat!

Woodpeckers sometimes drink from hummingbird feeders by using their long tongues!

Conservation & Population

Several woodpecker types are endangered (at risk of disappearing forever), including the Red-cockaded Woodpecker of the southeastern United States!

The biggest threat (danger) to woodpeckers is habitat loss (losing their homes) due to deforestation (cutting down forests) and removal (taking away) of dead trees!

Some woodpecker types are actually increasing (growing) in numbers thanks to backyard bird feeders and conservation (protection) efforts!

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker was once thought extinct (gone forever) but has sparked hope with possible sightings in recent decades (years)!

Protected areas and national parks have helped woodpecker populations (groups) stabilize (become steady) in many regions (areas)!

Citizen science projects help researchers (scientists) track woodpecker populations (groups) by having people report sightings in their area!

Some woodpecker types have adapted (changed) to urban environments (city areas) and can now be found in city parks and suburbs (areas outside cities)!

Conservation (protection) efforts include leaving dead trees standing in forests because they provide (give) important habitat (homes) for woodpeckers!

The Red-headed Woodpecker population (group) has declined (gone down) by over 70% in the last 50 years!

Species-Specific Facts

The Downy Woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker in North America, about the size of a sparrow!

The Pileated Woodpecker’s rectangular (box-shaped) holes in trees can be up to a foot long!

The Northern Flicker is one of the few woodpecker types that frequently (often) feeds on the ground!

The Lewis’s Woodpecker catches insects in mid-air like a flycatcher!

The Acorn Woodpecker lives in family groups and works together to maintain (take care of) their granary (storage) trees!

The Gila Woodpecker of the southwestern deserts makes its nest holes in giant cactus plants!

The Red-bellied Woodpecker can stick out its tongue more than 2 inches beyond its beak!

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker creates rows of small holes in trees to collect sap!

The Great Spotted Woodpecker can tell if a tree is hollow (empty inside) by the sound it makes when tapped!

The Black Woodpecker of Europe is strong enough to split chunks of bark more than a foot long from trees!

Daily Life & Routines

Most woodpeckers wake up before sunrise and start drumming to mark their territory (area)!

Some woodpecker types take afternoon naps in their tree cavities (holes)!

Woodpeckers clean their feathers with tree sap, which might act as a natural insecticide (bug repellent)!

Most woodpeckers return to the same sleeping cavity (hole) every night!

Historical & Cultural Facts

Ancient Romans believed that woodpeckers could predict (tell about) incoming rain by making louder sounds!

Native American tribes often considered (thought of) woodpeckers to be guardian spirits (protecting spirits) of the forest!

The oldest known woodpecker fossil (ancient remains) is about 25 million years old!

Scientists study woodpecker skulls to help design better protective gear (safety equipment) for humans!

Fun and Unique Facts

Old woodpecker holes provide (give) homes for over 40 different types of forest animals!

A single woodpecker family can eat up to 2 million harmful forest insects per year!

Woodpeckers help spread oak trees by dropping and forgetting some of their stored acorns!

The holes woodpeckers make in trees can help other birds find insects to eat!