Gila Woodpecker in August

August feels like summer but the year has turned. Southbound migration is quietly underway, many adults are molting into fresh plumage, and family groups are breaking up. Late nesters are still feeding young in the North while southern birds are already drifting toward wintering grounds.

For the Gila Woodpecker specifically, August is a summer month of relative routine, with the species settled into its seasonal pattern across its range. Across the 4 states and provinces where gila woodpeckers occur, what the bird is doing this month depends heavily on latitude — the details below break it down by band.

Southern states

absent

Mid-latitudes

year-round resident

Northern states & Canada

absent

In August, gila woodpeckers are absent in the South, year-round resident across the mid-latitudes, and absent in the northern states and Canada. That north–south split is the defining feature of this month: where you live changes which version of this bird you're looking at.

Gila woodpeckers are not nesting in August. The season runs April–July at mid-latitudes, and up to a month later in the North.

Outside the nesting season, gila woodpeckers put their energy into feeding and flocking rather than territory and young — which is exactly what makes them easier to watch and attract this month.

• Insects and saguaro fruit

Excavates saguaro cavities later used by owls, flycatchers and martins; visits hummingbird and oriole feeders.

Molting birds look scruffy and often skulk — don't be surprised if familiar visitors briefly vanish. Keep water fresh in the heat.

Full Gila Woodpecker diet guide → · Best feeder for gila woodpeckers →

Gila woodpeckers are settled and predictable in August, which makes this a good month to learn the bird's routine — same feeders, same perches, same times of day.

The state guides below show exactly where in your region gila woodpeckers are expected this month and which native plants hold them in a yard.

ArizonaCaliforniaNevadaNew Mexico