Meet Our May Bird of the Month, the Golden-fronted Woodpecker

These strikingly colored woodpeckers are the most common ones we see in the Rio Grande Valley. They're resident year-round.

   

Fun Facts

• Golden-fronted woodpeckers don't usually excavate to feed. Instead, they tend to pick insects from vegetation (aka, "gleaning"), or may peck or probe.

• If you see one with purple stains on its face, it's likely been eating prickly pear fruits. They also go for hackberry, agarita, and persimmon, among other native plants.

• The red crown is what most easily sets males apart from females. The male's nape is also more yellow-orange vs. just yellow on females.

• They do excavate trees or poles to create a nesting cavity. Did you know a woodpecker's head can strike a tree's surface at speeds up to 13-15 mph, at over 100 strokes per minute? That's like a person crashing head first into a tree while running at top speed.

Learn more on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site.

 

How to Attract

• Golden-fronted woodpeckers eat insects, but also fruit, nuts, and seeds, and will readily visit bird feeders. They'll even go for bananas and citrus fruit!

• They especially love Wild Bird Unlimited's exclusive Bark Butter® products!

 

How to Deter

If you have a woodpecker that's making a nuisance of itself, there's hope.

• If it's loudly drumming against your home in springtime, it's likely just trying to mark its territory and attract a mate. This behavior usually stops once breeding starts.

• Unfortunately, woodpeckers sometimes hammer against your home for other reasons. The experts at Cornell Lab have some great advice. See "Why Do Woodpeckers Like To Hammer On Houses? And What Can I Do About It?"

  

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