There are over 300 species of woodpeckers in the world, about 17 of which are found in the United States. Of those species we’ve found that there are 8 woodpeckers living in South Carolina. Out of these, several are year-round residents to South Carolina while others might live there part time.
In this article we’re going to talk about all 8 of these species of woodpeckers in South Carolina. For each species we’ll have a picture to help you identify it, a bit about its size, a brief description with some fun facts, as well as where and how they can be found in the state.
The woodpeckers of South Carolina
The 8 species of woodpeckers found in South Carolina are the Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The following list gives an overview of each bird. Be sure to read to the end where we’ll talk about how to attract woodpeckers to your yard!
1. Downy Woodpecker
Length: 5.5-6.7 in
Weight: 0.7-1.0 oz
Wingspan: 9.8-11.8 in
Downy Woodpeckers are the smallest of all woodpeckers in North America and can be found in South Carolina all year throughout the whole state. They are very common at feeders and easily attracted with suet, peanuts, mixed seed, or black sunflower seed.
Whenever I put up a new feeder in my yard Downys are always among the first to visit it along with chickadees and titmice. They do not migrate and are also very common in the winter time.
Aside from being frequent visitors at bird feeders they also will hammer away at trees looking for insect larvae or feed on berries and acorns. It is not unusual to catch a Downy Woodpecker drinking nectar from a hummingbird feeder. Downy Woodpeckers prefer nesting in dead trees or dead branches on live trees.
2. Hairy Woodpecker
