page_title: List of birds of Kentucky
section_title: Woodpeckers
hierarchical_section_title: List of birds of Kentucky / Woodpeckers
caption_attribution_description: English: A male Pileated woodpecker foraging on a tree
context_page_description: This list of birds of Kentucky includes species documented in the U.S. state of Kentucky by the Kentucky Bird Records Committee of the Kentucky Ornithological Society through December 2017. Three additional species have been accepted by the KBRC but not yet added to the published list, and one more species has been documented but not yet assessed by the KBRC. Of these 391 species, 101 are classed as accidental and six were introduced to North America. Four are extinct and three have been extirpated. An additional nine species are hypothetical as defined below. Birds that are considered probable escapees, although they may have been sighted flying free, are not included.
  This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds, 7th edition through the 61st Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society. Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.
  The following tags are used to designate some species:
  Accidental - A species on the Kentucky review list, for which the KOS requires documentation
context_section_description: Order: Piciformes   Family: Picidae
  Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues used for capturing insects. Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks. Nine species have been recorded in Kentucky.
  Red-headed woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus
  Red-bellied woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus
  Yellow-bellied sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius
  Downy woodpecker, Dryobates pubescens
  Red-cockaded woodpecker, Dryobates borealis (E)
  Hairy woodpecker, Dryobates villosus
  Northern flicker, Colaptes auratus
  Pileated woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus
  Ivory-billed woodpecker, Campephilus principalis (X)
caption: Pileated woodpecker
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