Melanerpes erythrocephalus
Order Piciformes
Family Picinae
Adult.— Whole head and upper breast crimson; upper back, wings, and tail bluish-black; lower back, wide band across wing, and belly white; outer tail-feathers tipped with white.
Immature.— Head and breast gray, streaked with black; black of back veiled with gray; white in wing barred with black; belly white, streaked with grayish-brown.
Nest, in a hole, in a tree.
Eggs, white.
The Red-headed Woodpecker is a permanent resident of New York, and along the valley of Lake Champlain in Vermont. In the latter region it is not uncommon, but in the lower Hudson Valley and about New York city it is generally rare, though occasionally common as a migrant. In eastern New England it is only an accidental visitor. The Red-headed Woodpecker is fond of open groves, and is often seen flying from fence-posts in pastures which contain trees. Its common note is almost identical with the grrrr of the tree-toad.
The term Red-headed Woodpecker is commonly misapplied to various Woodpeckers; the Flicker, the male Downy, and the Hairy, all have a red patch on the back of the head, while the Sapsucker either has the crown red, or both the crown and throat red. In the adult Red-headed Woodpecker, however, not only the whole head and throat are red, but the upper breast as well. When it flies, it shows a striking contrast of white with glossy black.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)