In our area, most species nest only once a breeding season, with the exception of northern flickers and red-headed woodpeckers, which often attempt a second nesting. If you want to get better acquainted with local woodpeckers, your backyard is a good place to start. Northern flickers and red-bellied and downy woodpeckers nest in local parks and neighborhoods throughout the area. Although less active, the migratory sapsucker quietly taps away at a variety of suburban trees during the winter. Offerings of suet, chopped peanuts, and sunflowers frequently draw downys and red-bellieds, but individuals from all seven species visit feeders at least occasionally.
Sapsuckers are present, leaves are off the trees, and the birds are active.
But woodpeckers' tapping, pecking, and strident calls can be heard most of the year. However, some woodpecker sounds take a bit of careful consideration. The greater Washington area is much better suited for woodpeckers than it was in the 1940s and 1950s. The protection of mature forests certainly has helped nurture the birds. The canal is truly a woodpecker haven.