Location: LONG ISLAND, NY.
Age range: 15-18.
Sex/Gender: Men; Women.
Languages: English, Spanish.
School Project
More than 20 woodpecker species are native to the United States. Although they vary in form and habit, most of these birds are widespread and can be found relatively easily. Here are a few woodpeckers which can be found on Long Island, with a little bit of luck. Where to watch woodpeckers on Long Island? Use map button above to view some locations (you may need to expand Oi in order to be able to see the map button).
Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpeckers are the smallest woodpeckers in the United States. They take advantage of their size to reach food sources that are inaccessible to other woodpeckers, including insects living in weeds.
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpeckers store nuts like Acorn Woodpeckers, eat fruit, and will catch insects on the wing like flycatchers. Their populations have declined by nearly 70 percent over the last 50 years.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Like all types of woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers are cavity-nesters. Although they sometimes evict smaller Red-cockaded Woodpeckers from nest sites, Red-bellieds themselves are more often displaced by European Starlings.
Acorn Woodpecker
In the fall, Acorn Woodpecker groups choose a “granary” tree into which they drill holes to store acorns. A single granary tree can sometimes hold up to 50,000 acorns. Usually can be found in forests with oaks.
Northern Flicker
Northern Flickers subsist primarily on a diet of ants, which they dig out of the ground. They use their barbed tongues to quickly snatch up invertebrate prey. Possible threats include pesticide use, invasive bird species (European Starling), and loss of suitable nest-cavity trees.