Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Picoides borealis

Order PICIFORMES - Family PICIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

One of the few bird species endemic to the United States, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker is a bird of mature southern pine forests. Its preference for longleaf pine and the destruction of that habitat have resulted in the woodpecker becoming an endangered species.

Cool Facts

• The Red-cockaded Woodpecker nests only in live pines. But, it often selects ones that are infected with the red heart fungus. The fungus softens the wood and allows the woodpecker to dig out a cavity. The live pine tree then "bleeds" pitch around the nest hole. The heavy flow of gum helps keep tree-climbing snakes away from the nest.

• A family of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers excavates a number of cavities within their territory. It may take two years or more to completely dig out one cavity. The breeding male roosts in the best cavity, usually the one most recently created and with the heaviest sap flow. The eggs are laid in this cavity, and the male incubates them at night.

• The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is a cooperative breeder, and lives in small family groups composed of one breeding pair and several helpers. The extra birds usually are sons from previous breeding seasons; daughters only rarely stay with their parents. The helpers assist in raising young, including incubation, brooding, and feeding. The entire family usually forages as a group, moving together from tree to tree.

• A cockade is a ribbon or ornament worn on a hat. The "cockade" of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker is the tiny red line on the side of the head of the male. It may be hidden and is very difficult to see in the field.

Description

• Size: 20-23 cm (8-9 in)
• Wingspan: 36 cm (14 in)
• Weight: 42-52 g (1.48-1.84 ounces)

• Medium-sized woodpecker.
• Black and white coloration.
• Large white cheek patch.
• Black back barred with white.
• Black cap.
• Black mustache and neck streak.

• Bill black and relatively short.
• White eyebrow above dark eye.
• Tail black with white outer tail feathers.
• Breast and belly gray white with black spots along sides of breast, turning to bars on flanks.
• Legs and feet gray.

Sex Differences

Male with tiny red line in black patch on side of nape.

Immature

Juvenile resembles adult, but black is duller. Crown flecked with white, may have red patch in center, especially on males.

Similar Species

• Downy and Hairy woodpeckers have white in the middle of the back and lack the white cheeks.
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker lacks the white cheeks and has a white stripe up its sides.

Sound

Call note a rough, rasping "sklit." Also rattles. Drumming is rather quiet.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Very local resident in southeastern states from southern Virginia to Texas.

Habitat

Open pine forest maintained by frequent fires, especially longleaf pine forests.

Food

Insects and arthropods, some fruit and seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Scales loose bark from pines to find insects underneath. Also probes crevices and excavates in rotting wood.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in cavity in tree; unlined.

Egg Description

Shiny white.

Clutch Size

Usually 3-4 eggs. Range: 2-5.

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless.

Conservation Status

Its extreme habitat specificity and loss of breeding habitat caused large population declines and the extinction of numerous colonies in the 20th century. It was listed as a Federal Endangered Species in 1970.

Other Names

Pic à face blanche (French)
Carpintero cara blanco (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Jackson, J. A. 1994. Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis). In The Birds of North America, No. 85 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.