• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Do Woodpeckers migrate? (1 Viewer)

OK_Scissortail

Oklahoma State Bird
I know this may seem an odd question and I know I have seen Woodpeckers here in the Winter as well as the Summer, but I just saw a flock of woodpeckers
flying over my head while sitting on my deck and I counted 21 of them!!! We do have a lot of woodpeckers on the farm but I'm wondering if the birding is getting to me and I am seeing things or what. My son and I were like WOW, so many at once.
 
It appears that some do and some don't. Maybe its something to do with habitat requirements. I'm definitely no expert on this so maybe someone else can expand on this.

jwilton
 
Many make irruptive movements - I regularly Great-spotted and Grey-headed woodpeckers migrating with other more conventional migrants in the autumn.
 
Thanks, so far we have loads of the red headed woodpeckers. My book that I just got says they Summer in the Western part of Oklahoma and other states and Winter on the NE edge of Oklahoma where we are, along with other states near us. We may have more of them here this year due to the drought in the Western part of the state (panhandle area). I also have a lot of the red bellied woodpecker, and hairy/downy woodpeckers. Another factor that may be playing a part is our Pecan trees they seem to love(300 of them on the farm). The Blue Jays which we have never seen here before (last five years) are here in flocks and fight over the Pecans with the woodpeckers. The one woodpecker I would love to see that the book says does Winter here is the Pileated Woodpecker. No where around yet.
 
migrating woodpeckers

Hi,
Northern Flickers and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers migrate south from
here in Canada in winter.

Darrell
 
Hi Darrell, this past week I have seen the Northern Flicker and the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker so they have made it this far at least. First time for me to see a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.
:)


Any others I should be looking for?
 
Last edited:
Thanks, so far we have loads of the red headed woodpeckers. My book that I just got says they Summer in the Western part of Oklahoma and other states and Winter on the NE edge of Oklahoma where we are, along with other states near us. We may have more of them here this year due to the drought in the Western part of the state (panhandle area). I also have a lot of the red bellied woodpecker, and hairy/downy woodpeckers. Another factor that may be playing a part is our Pecan trees they seem to love(300 of them on the farm). The Blue Jays which we have never seen here before (last five years) are here in flocks and fight over the Pecans with the woodpeckers. The one woodpecker I would love to see that the book says does Winter here is the Pileated Woodpecker. No where around yet.
I'm not sure what part of OK you live in but if you're close to Lake Texoma, Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge would be a good place to see a Pileated Woodpecker. ...wish I could tell you where to see an Ivory-billed but I don't have a handle on that one yet. :')
 
In Europe the Wryneck is the only member of the woodpecker family which migrates in the 'classic' sense of the word. Ranging across most of (continental) Europe the species contracts southwards in the autumn to winter in Africa (and rarely in southern Spain). It is also a decreasing and scarce passage migrant to the UK (where it formerly bred). However, as witnessed by large movements of White-backed and Three-toed Woodpeckers in Finland this autumn, the 'resident' European species periodically undergo strong movements relating, presumably, to food shortages/overpopulation. Scandinavian Great Spotted Woodpeckers, for example, often appear in the treeless Shetlands. Judging from my American filedguides, the USA is more blessed with properly migrant woodpeckers - Red-headed & Lewis's Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, Williamson's, Red-breasted, Red-naped & Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers all, to a greater or lesser extent, vacate part of their breeding range and head south in winter. This explains why, remarkably so, Britain's only vagrant woodpecker is not a European species - despite their relative proximity to the UK -, but an American one - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

John
 
Thank you for the information John. I think the yellow bellied sapsuckers are pretty neat birds. The coloring is nice and different for what I normally see.

Ctratsnake...awesome that you have seen the Pileated Woodpecker. I'm still looking for it, hopefully sometime this Winter it may show up.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top