The Red Cockaded Woodpecker

Description

The Red-cockaded woodpecker is medium-sized, (20-23 cm), black with white striping and large white patches on either side of the head. The underside is white with black speckles. This type of woodpecker is named for the small patched of red the adult males have back behind the eyes on either side.

These patches are tiny and frequently aren’t even visible under the black crown feathers on the head, and so males and females are difficult to distinguish from even short distances. The exception is during territorial or breeding displays, where the crest feathers are raised and the “cockades” are more easily seen.

Territory

Red-cockaded woodpeckers were declared an endangered species by the government of the United States in 1970. While once they were found from the south central United States (Oklahoma and west Texas) through to the Atlantic coast, they are now limited to disconnected, patchy territories along the gulf coast of and through the Carolinas. Populations of Red-cockaded woodpeckers in Tennessee and Kentucky are so depleted that they will likely die out.

The reason for this is their highly specialized habitat needs. Unlike most other woodpeckers that prefer dead or leaf-bearing trees for nesting and roosting, the Red-cockaded is adapted to roosting and nesting in large, live coniferous trees; specifically long-needled pine. Their ideal forest is one with widely spaced trees, a condition usually brought about by periodic fires. Fire and forest management strategies implemented by humans have greatly reduced these forest conditions across the southeast United States. The individual territories of these woodpeckers are large and as the suitable forest lands disappear the family groups become isolated and unable to breed effectively, eventually disappearing completely.

Behavior

Like the rest of the picoides, these woodpeckers are primarily insectivores, favoring all kinds of wood-boring insects, spider, millipedes and flies. The Red-cockaded pecks and pries bark loose from either live or dead trees, usually pines, and gleans the area for insects. They are generally trunk feeders, with females tending to hunt along the lower areas of the trunks and the males higher and among the branches.

The Red-cockaded woodpecker are what is called a cooperative breeder, meaning they live in extended families with one breeding pair and several adult helpers. The family group, or clan, roosts nearby each other but within their own roosting holes. They are an unusually vocal woodpecker, particularly in the early morning and right before settling in to roost at night, but vocalize constantly during the day to keep in touch with other members of the clan as they move as a group through their territory.

Territories are kept year-round and defended against intruders. Single invaders are attacked by both halves of the breeding couple, while boundary disputes with neighboring clans can take a considerable length of time and a great deal of noise to resolve. Competing families drum, call and posture aggressively, sometimes jabbing at their opponent with their heads, but rarely cause permanent harm to each other. The Red-cockaded must also be watchful for flying squirrels, Red-bellied woodpeckers and sometimes Pileated woodpeckers, all of whom will attempt to claim a Red-cockaded woodpecker’s nest site, often by force.

Because of the preference for live pines in which to nest, it can take weeks, months or even years to fully excavate a nesting hole. The nesting holes are inherited along the male lines, and can be used for decades by a family group. To avoid the potential for intra-family breeding, it is typically females who leave or are driven from the family group in search of new mates. In addition, it makes these woodpeckers more likely to take advantage of man-made nesting holes and boxes, as competition for their holes is fierce and reestablishing a new colony is time and labor intensive.

Quick facts

It is thought that the Red-cockaded woodpecker selects live pines as part of a defense plan. Nest holes in particular have a series of sap wells drilled around the opening and reopen every day keeping a steady flow of sticky pine sap. The theory is that it is intended to keep out insects and nest competitors like the flying squirrel. Its hard to tell exactly how effective a defense the sap is against potential nest poachers, but it does appear to be an effective barrier for snakes. An additional defense mechanism is bark scaling, or stripping the bark of areas of the tree underneath the nest leaving a smoother surface and therefore one that is more difficult for a snake or other predator to climb.
The male of the breeding pair in the clan gets the best nesting hole in the colony, usually the one with the heaviest sap flow and often the most recently completed cavity. This is where the female will lay the eggs and the male then incubates them. The rest of the clan stays close by, sometimes excavating additional roosting holes in the same tree. A truly good nesting tree may have up to five roosting holes in it.

Discover how to get rid of red cockaded woodpeckers that are damaging your home in 5 easy steps today!