Bird guide · Melanerpes uropygialis
Gila Woodpecker
What the Gila woodpecker eats, where it lives, when it comes to feeders and how to recognise it – with sightings from every US state.
- Season
- Mostly year-round resident
- Size
- 9 in (22.5 cm)
- Eats
- sugar water, fruit
- Feeds
- nectar feeder, fruit feeder
- Most common
- Arizona, New Mexico, California
Food
What do Gila woodpeckers eat?
At feeders, Gila woodpeckers take sugar water, fruit.
Often drinks sugar water from hummingbird feeders.
Feeder that suits it
A suet cage on a tree trunk or pole; peanuts and sunflower hearts work too.
Range
Where do Gila woodpeckers live?
Desert Southwest, in saguaro stands, riverside trees, towns and suburbs. By share of all bird sightings, Gila woodpeckers are most common in Arizona (2.4%).
Season
Does the Gila woodpecker migrate?
Mostly year-round resident. Across the US it is reported in every month; its share of bird sightings is highest in March.
Share of all bird sightings in the US that are Gila woodpeckers, by month.
Identification
How to identify the Gila woodpecker
Adults: Black-and-white barred back, wings and tail; buffy-brown head and underparts; male has a small red crown spot.
Size: 9 in (22.5 cm)
On camera
Getting the Gila woodpecker on a feeder camera
Pick a camera feeder that takes a suet cage, or mount a separate camera next to a suet feeder on the trunk – woodpeckers cling to the bark while they feed.
Questions
Gila Woodpecker: questions
What do Gila woodpeckers eat?
At feeders, sugar water, fruit.
Do Gila woodpeckers migrate?
Mostly year-round resident. Across the US it is reported in every month; its share of bird sightings is highest in March.
Where do Gila woodpeckers live?
By share of all bird sightings, they are most common in Arizona, New Mexico, California. They are rare or absent in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut.