Woodpeckers in California
Our list for California has 15 woodpeckers recorded regularly there: 10 residents, 3 summer visitors and 2 winter visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in California in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 15, most common first
Northern FlickerColaptes auratusResidentCommon28–31 cmRecorded all year
Nuttall's WoodpeckerDryobates nuttalliiResidentCommon17–18 cmRecorded all year
Acorn WoodpeckerMelanerpes formicivorusResidentCommon20–24 cmRecorded all year
Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescensResidentCommon14–18 cmRecorded all year
Hairy WoodpeckerLeuconotopicus villosusResidentUncommon18–26 cmRecorded all year
Red-breasted SapsuckerSphyrapicus ruberResidentUncommon19–22 cmRecorded all year
White-headed WoodpeckerPicoides albolarvatusSummer visitorUncommon20–23 cmRecorded all year
Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatusResidentUncommon40–49 cmRecorded all year
Lewis's WoodpeckerMelanerpes lewisResidentUncommon26–28 cmRecorded all year
Williamson's SapsuckerSphyrapicus thyroideusSummer visitorRare21–25 cmRegularly May–Feb
Ladder-backed WoodpeckerDryobates scalarisResidentRare16–19 cmRecorded all year
Black-backed WoodpeckerPicoides arcticusSummer visitorRare21–24 cmRegularly May–Oct
Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus variusWinter visitorRare19–22 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Red-naped SapsuckerSphyrapicus nuchalisWinter visitorRare19–21 cmRegularly Jul–Apr
Gila WoodpeckerMelanerpes uropygialisResidentRare20–25 cmRecorded all year
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Downy Woodpecker 14–18 cm
- Nuttall's Woodpecker 17–18 cm
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker 16–19 cm
- Red-naped Sapsucker 19–21 cm
- Red-breasted Sapsucker 19–22 cm
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 19–22 cm
- White-headed Woodpecker 20–23 cm
- Acorn Woodpecker 20–24 cm
- Hairy Woodpecker 18–26 cm
- Black-backed Woodpecker 21–24 cm
- Gila Woodpecker 20–25 cm
- Williamson's Sapsucker 21–25 cm
- Lewis's Woodpecker 26–28 cm
- Northern Flicker 28–31 cm
- Pileated Woodpecker 40–49 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made