Woodpeckers in Washington
Our list for Washington has 13 woodpeckers recorded regularly there: 7 residents, 5 summer visitors and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Washington in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 13, most common first
Northern FlickerColaptes auratusResidentCommon28–31 cmRecorded all year
Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescensResidentCommon14–18 cmRecorded all year
Red-breasted SapsuckerSphyrapicus ruberResidentUncommon19–22 cmRecorded all year
Hairy WoodpeckerLeuconotopicus villosusResidentUncommon18–26 cmRecorded all year
Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatusResidentUncommon40–49 cmRecorded all year
Red-naped SapsuckerSphyrapicus nuchalisSummer visitorUncommon19–21 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Lewis's WoodpeckerMelanerpes lewisSummer visitorUncommon26–28 cmRecorded all year
Williamson's SapsuckerSphyrapicus thyroideusSummer visitorRare21–25 cmRegularly Mar–Sep
White-headed WoodpeckerPicoides albolarvatusResidentRare20–23 cmRecorded all year
American Three-toed WoodpeckerPicoides dorsalisSummer visitorRare21–24 cmRegularly Mar–Oct
Acorn WoodpeckerMelanerpes formicivorusResidentRare20–24 cmRecorded all year
Black-backed WoodpeckerPicoides arcticusSummer visitorRare21–24 cmRecorded all year
Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus variusScarceRare19–22 cm
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Downy Woodpecker 14–18 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
- Hairy Woodpecker 18–26 cm
- Acorn Woodpecker 20–24 cm
- American Three-toed Woodpecker 21–24 cm
- Black-backed Woodpecker 21–24 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