A systematic, species-by-species compilation presents detailed life histories of North American woodpeckers, covering recognized subspecies and summarizing geographic ranges. For each taxon it describes plumage and molt sequences, habits of feeding, breeding behavior, nesting sites, egg characteristics with condensed egg-date data, and seasonal movements. Measurements, references to contributors, and methodology for compiling distribution paragraphs and egg records are included, along with brief notes to avoid duplication among subspecies. Color and egg-shape nomenclature follow standard references, and the work emphasizes observational records and museum data assembled from many contributors.