What do Woodpeckers eat?

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Do Woodpeckers eat wood?

Believe it or not Woodpeckers do not eat the wood when they are “pecking” or excavating wood cavities. Woodpeckers burrow into trees and other wood for a few reasons. They are looking for food like insects, nuts, seeds and also digging a hole to build a nest in.

What do Woodpeckers eat?

There are many species of Woodpeckers and the exact foods preferred by each vary, but the most popular woodpecker foods include:

⦁ Insects: especially wood-boring insects, grubs, spiders, and ants, meal worms
⦁ Seeds: sunflower, sunflower chips, cracked corn,
⦁ Tree sap
⦁ Nuts
⦁ Berries and fruit, including juice from broken fruit
⦁ Flower nectar
⦁ Suet (Link to Suet feeders post)

Understanding a woodpecker’s diet can help homeowners provide the best woodpecker food at their feeders, and can help mitigate any damage to your home and landscape.

Here are some examples of Woodpeckers eating: