Red-headed Woodpeckers in Kansas

Red-headed Woodpeckers live in Kansas all year. Cold, dry winters with strong wind; windbreaks and evergreens are prime roost cover. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward stored acorns and beechnuts.

Continental — humid tallgrass Flint Hills in the east to semi-arid shortgrass prairie in the west.

Across Kansas, red-headed woodpeckers typically nest from May–July. Nest site: cavity in dead trees or limbs. Females lay 3–10 eggs, incubate for 12–14 days, and young leave the nest after 24–31 days.

Hot summers above 95°F; western Kansas is dry, so water draws birds from far away.

• Red-headed Woodpeckers don't use nest boxes. Keep dense native shrubs and trees such as flowering dogwood, serviceberry, white oak for nest sites.
• Delay heavy pruning of shrubs until after July.

Of the regional native plants we track for Kansas, these 8 provide food or cover red-headed woodpeckers use:

A declining open-woodland species that visits yards with large dead limbs left standing.

• Best foods: Suet, Peanuts, Sunflower.
• In Kansas's winter: Cold, dry winters with strong wind; windbreaks and evergreens are prime roost cover.

Full diet breakdown for red-headed woodpeckers · Best feeder for red-headed woodpeckers