Red-headed Woodpeckers in Texas

Red-headed Woodpeckers live in Texas all year. Hard freezes are brief outside the Panhandle, so most feeder birds face heat and drought stress more than cold. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward stored acorns and beechnuts.

Humid subtropical in the east and along the Gulf, semi-arid to arid in the west; long, hot summers and short, mild winters over most of the state.

Across Texas, red-headed woodpeckers typically nest from April–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.

Afternoon highs regularly exceed 95°F — nest boxes need shade or light-colored, ventilated construction, and water matters as much as food.

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

Of the regional native plants we track for Texas, 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 Texas's winter: Hard freezes are brief outside the Panhandle, so most feeder birds face heat and drought stress more than cold.

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