Red-bellied Woodpecker by Andrew Hartridge
Adults are mainly light gray on the face and underparts; they have black and white barred patterns on their back, wings, and tail. Adult males have a red cap going from the bill to the nape; females have a red patch on the nape and another above the bill. The reddish tinge on the belly that gives the bird its name is difficult to see in field identification.
Red-bellied woodpeckers are noisy birds and have many varied calls. Calls have been described as sounding like churr-churr-churr or thrraa-thrraa-thrraa with an alternating br-r-r-r-t sound. Males tend to call and drum more frequently than females, but both sexes call.