Males have red caps, alert yellow-ringed eyes and black and white plumage. The female looks the same except her red cap is restricted to the back of her head.

These woodpeckers live in oak and mixed oak-evergreen forests on slopes and mountains in the Southwest and West Coast. They’re tolerant of humans, and you can find them in towns where there are acorns to harvest and suitable places to store them.

Acorn Woodpeckers may visit seed and suet feeders near oak woodlands within their range. However, if they have discovered you have wood siding, you may have a very difficult time getting rid of them.

Acorn Woodpeckers are found in the pine-oak woodlands of western Oregon, California, and the Southwest through Mexico and Central America. They also live in other habitats with oaks present or nearby, including stream side forests, Douglas-fir forests, redwood forests, tropical hardwood forests, suburban areas and urban parks.