The redheaded woodpecker is a beauty

This is a redheaded woodpecker. Its head and neck are completely covered by small red feathers.

Broad white patches on the wings, along with white undersides, make this bird easy to identify in flight. Black dominates the redheaded woodpecker's upper back, upper tail and wing tips. It is sometimes confused with the red-bellied woodpecker, which only has red on the top of its head.

During winter, this bird is a welcome sight throughout most of its native range of most of the eastern U.S.

Generally, where one redheaded woodpecker is seen, there will be others. Still, the redheaded woodpecker is not an abundant bird.

Currently it is named "a common bird in steep decline" on the North American Bird Watch list as "Near Threatened."

Dead trees are important to the survival of redheaded woodpeckers and other woodpeckers because they are natural nest sites.

Dead trees also harbor wood-boring insects and their larvae, which are a major food source to this bird. Redheaded woodpeckers also eat small seeds, acorns and various flying and crawling insects. Their best-known call is a distinct, fast, puttering chatter.