There are as many as 22 species of woodpeckers in North America and you can find 12 of those woodpeckers in New Mexico. In this article we’ll take a look at each species and touch on where and when you might spot one in New Mexico. At the end of the article I’ll also give you a few tips on how to attract woodpeckers to your yard.
12 species of woodpeckers in New Mexico
The 12 species of woodpeckers in Texas are the Red-headed Woodpecker, Arizona Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Gila Woodpecker, Williamson’s Sapsucker, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and the Northern Flicker.
1. Red-headed Woodpecker
Length: 7.5-9.1 in
Weight: 2.0-3.2 oz
Wingspan: 16.5 in
Actually pretty rare to New Mexico with just a few spotty breeding populations each year, consider yourself lucky if you live in New Mexico and see one of these in your yard. The Red-headed Woodpecker is easily identified by its completely red/crimson head. They will sometimes visit suet feeders, but again are less common some other types of woodpeckers. Aside from suet they will also eat various nuts and fruits, and they are also very skilled at catching insects in mid-flight.
Red-headed Woodpeckers can be quite aggressive and it’s not uncommon for them to take over nests by knocking eggs out or even puncturing them to kill the young. They are one of only four species of woodpeckers that actively store their food in caches for later use. The Red-headed Woodpecker takes it a step further though and will go so far as to cover the food up with bark or wood to better camouflage its stash.
2. Acorn Woodpecker
Length: 7.5-9.1 in
Weight: 2.3-3.2 oz
Wingspan: 13.8-16.9 in
Acorn Woodpeckers have a very limited range in North America, but are found throughout most of New Mexico all year long. You can find them in oak or pine-oak forests where they eat acorns and a number of different insects. Like most species of woodpecker they will at least occasionally visit suet feeders, but are more rare to than maybe a Downy.
They’re known for drilling holes in trees called granaries and storing nuts in theme, as many as 50,000 nuts in some cases. They jam them into these holes so tightly that other animals are unable to remove them. They are obviously storing this food for a later date when food is more scarce. They’ll also fiercely guard these food caches from anything that tries to steal from them.
3. Red-naped Sapsucker
Length: 7.5-8.3 in
Weight: 1.1-2.3 oz
Wingspan: 16.1-16.9 in
Red-naped Sapsuckers are very closely related to Yellow-bellied’s and were even thought to be the same species until 1983 when researchers discovered they were in fact two different species.
Like other sapsuckers, they drink sap from trees like aspen, birch, or pine trees, but also feed on insects. Look for them in Northern New Mexico early in the breeding season (mid-May), and early in the morning when they are most active. In southern and western parts of the state they are more common in the winter. Neat rows of holes in a sap-producing tree is a good indicator that a sapsucker is in the area.
4. Downy Woodpecker
Length: 5.5-6.7 in
Weight: 0.7-1.0 oz
Wingspan: 9.8-11.8 in
You can find these tiny woodpeckers in most of New Mexico all year long as they do not migrate. The southern edge of their range is in New Mexico, so they don’t really go any further south from here. They are very common throughout almost all of the U.S. and are the smallest species of woodpeckers in North America. They are also very common at bird feeders many times being the first to visit a new feeder.
They love suet but also eat a variety of seeds like sunflower seeds, millet, and peanuts. They’re only about the size of a sparrow and can be identified by their white spots on their backs and white underbellies. Males also will have a red patch on top of their heads.
5. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Length: 6.3-7.1 in
Weight: 0.7-1.7 oz
Wingspan: 13.0 in
Look for Ladder-backed Woodpeckers from late January to March when they are pairing up for breeding and more active. They can be found throughout most of Eastern and Southeastern New Mexico all year. They aren’t commonly seen at suet feeders but they will readily eat mealworms, peanut butter, and black oil sunflower seeds when offered.
They commonly nest in dead trees, so if you want to attract a pair leave those dead trees in your yard alone. Ladder-backed Woodpeckers were once known as “Cactus Woodpeckers” because they often prefer living in deserts and thorn forests where cacti are present.
6. Hairy Woodpecker
Length: 7.1-10.2 in
Weight: 1.4-3.4 oz
Wingspan: 13.0-16.1 in
You may be wondering if you’re looking at another Downy Woodpecker in this picture. The answer is no, but they sure do look alike. Hairy Woodpeckers are found in most of New Mexico year-round, but are less common to the southeast. These woodpeckers are significantly larger than Downy’s and have a noticeably larger beak. Other than that they are difficult to tell apart and are very similar in all ways. I have found them to be less common at bird feeders overall.
To attract Hairy Woodpeckers to your backyards you can offer the same things that you’d offer a Downy, bird Suet using suet feeders. Though in my experience Hairy’s a much less common at feeders.
7. Northern Flicker
Length: 11.0-12.2 in
Weight: 3.9-5.6 oz
Wingspan: 16.5-20.1 in
Northern Flickers are found in some capacity in most of North America, and all of the United States. In New Mexico they are prevalent throughout the entire state all year. These large woodpeckers are between the size of a Hairy and a Pileated Woodpecker. In my opinion they are among some of the most colorful birds in North America and I love catching a glimpse of one in my yard.
Northern Flickers are different from other woodpeckers in that they usually hunt for their food on the ground and not in trees. they can commonly be seen picking through dirt and leaves looking for insects.
8. Gila Woodpecker
Length: 8.7-9.4 in
Weight: 1.8-2.8 oz
Wingspan: 15.8-16.5 in
This next species is only found in the southwestern corner New Mexico, but found in almost no other states in the country. Gila Woodpeckers are most common in Arizona in the U.S. The Gila Woodpecker is famous for its ability to survive in treeless desert habitats in Southeastern states such as California, Arizona, and New Mexico. They excavate their nests in the saguaro cactus, one of the only living trees in the arid regions they live in. In these large cacti they get just about everything they need to survive including food and shelter.
After Gila Woodpeckers have moved on, their holes are taken over by any number of birds including American Kestrels, Elf Owls, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls, Ash-throated Flycatchers, Brown-crested Flycatchers, Purple Martins, Cactus Wrens, and Lucy’s Warblers. source
In appearance they look very similar to their cousin to the east, the Red-bellied Woodpecker, but they are quite different in many ways. though they are somewhat rare and have a limited range, they can be attracted to feeders with all the usual woodpecker food, like suet.
9. Lewis’s Woodpecker
Length: 10.2-11.0 in
Weight: 3.1-4.9 oz
Wingspan: 19.3-20.5 in
Lewis’s Woodpeckers aren’t extremely common in New Mexico, but they do live throughout most of the state. They tend to stay in pine forests and forests that have been burned, but their populations are often unpredictable. Especially after breeding season when they travel around looking for stores of acorns and nuts. They take these foods and store them in crevices to last them throughout the winter.
Unlike a lot of other woodpeckers, Lewis’s Woodpeckers mostly feed by catching insects in midair. They have broad, rounded wings that gives their flight a graceful, crow-like quality. Their coloration is also unique and features a pink belly, red patch on the face, and a dark, iridescent green on their back and wings.
10. American Three-toed Woodpecker
Length: 8.3-9.1 in
Weight: 1.6-2.4 oz
Wingspan: 14.6-15.3 in
Aside from a few other states in the west, New Mexico is actually one of the few states that the American Three-toed Woodpecker can be found. They are pretty rare in the state, and only found in the Winter in a few spots in Central New Mexico. They prefer damaged, old growth forests with lots of dead or even burned trees where they can extract insect larvae and mine for bugs easily.
The majority of woodpeckers have 4 toes, or Zygodactyl toes. However as the name suggests, these woodpeckers have just 3 toes. It is believed that the Three-toed Woodpecker is able to lean back further and strike a more powerful blow to its target because of the leverage having just 3 toes affords it.
Overall these woodpeckers are not common in the U.S. and are not often seen at feeders, if at all.
11. Williamson’s Sapsucker
Length: 8.3-9.8 in
Weight: 1.6-1.9 oz
Wingspan: 17 inches
Williamson’s Sapsuckers are only found in a handful of midwestern states, New Mexico being one of them. They are mainly found in the western 2/3 of the state, look for them in the warmer months there when they are most active and pairing up to mate. William’s Sapsuckers winter southward from Northern New Mexico into parts of Southern New Mexico and into Mexico.
They feed primarily on the sap of coniferous trees, extracting it by drilling sapwells. Sapsuckers also feed on a variety of insects.
Uncommon in backyards, Williamson’s Sapsuckers are primarily found in the forests of the Rocky Mountains and westward from there. They roost in natural or excavated cavities and prefer nesting in a larger, older trees.
12. Arizona Woodpecker
Length: 7.1-7.9 in
Weight: 1.2-1.8 oz
Wingspan: 14.2 in
The Arizona Woodpecker is only found in 2 states in the U.S., Arizona and New Mexico. In both states these woodpeckers only have the tiniest range in the Southern corners of the states where they border each other. There is a long population strip going through Central Mexico where these woodpeckers live year round, the northernmost tip of it just barely enters the U.S. in Arizona and New Mexico.
You’ll have the best chance of spotting one of these guys between March and May, this is when both sexes are most vocal during the breeding season. Arizona Woodpeckers feed on various insects, larvae, nuts, berries, and other typical woodpecker food. They live in mature pine-oak forests and nest in excavated cavities in dead wood.
Jesse has been feeding birds in his backyard and bird watching across the country for years. He loves learning about the different species and sharing his knowledge and experiences on this website.