White-headed Woodpecker in December

December is the start of the true winter season. Birds are settled into winter ranges and flocking behavior peaks — mixed flocks move through woods and yards together, and feeding stations become social hubs. Short days mean birds must find most of their food in a few hours of daylight.

For the White-headed Woodpecker specifically, December is a winter month of relative routine, with the species settled into its seasonal pattern across its range. Across the 6 states and provinces where white-headed 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 December, white-headed 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.

White-headed woodpeckers are not nesting in December. The season runs April–July at mid-latitudes.

That makes December a useful month for nest-box work: cleaning out old nesting material, checking mounts and predator guards, and making repairs while boxes are empty. A box that's ready early gets claimed early.

White-headed Woodpecker nest box dimensions and mounting →

• Ponderosa and sugar pine seeds

A ponderosa-pine specialist of western mountains; visits cabin feeders in pine country.

Feeders are busiest at dawn and dusk as birds fuel up against long cold nights. Suet and other high-fat foods earn their keep this month.

Full White-headed Woodpecker diet guide → · Best feeder for white-headed woodpeckers →

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

If you have a White-headed Woodpecker box up, this is the month to make sure it's clean, secure and ready — the box guide below has the exact hole size and mounting height this species needs.

British ColumbiaCaliforniaIdahoNevadaOregonWashington