Golden-fronted Woodpecker

About the Golden-fronted Woodpecker

A handsome woodpecker of the Texas brush country, the Golden-fronted Woodpecker wears a boldly barred black-and-white back, a clean tan face and underparts, and dabs of color on the head - a golden nape, a yellow patch above the bill, and, on the male, a small red cap. It replaces the Red-bellied Woodpecker across much of central, western, and southern Texas, and the two barely overlap.

Noisy and conspicuous, it gives a rolling churr and hitches up mesquite trunks, fence posts, and utility poles, feeding on insects, cactus fruit, acorns, and berries. It readily comes to feeders and hammers out nest holes in dead limbs and poles.

In Texas this is very much a signature bird - largely absent from the rest of the United States, so out-of-state birders often seek it here. It is a year-round resident of mesquite savanna, ranchland, and town edges from the Hill Country south to the Rio Grande.

A note from behind the lens: their fondness for open perches and feeders makes them cooperative subjects. Catch one against a clean sky on a mesquite snag and that patchwork of color really shows.