Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Picoides borealisOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)

Overview

Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Medium woodpecker, black-and-white barred back, black cap, nape, white face, throat, breast, black-spotted sides, flanks, belly. Dark eye-line ends in red cockade at rear of cap. Black wings have white bars. Black tail has black-spotted white outer feathers.

Range and Habitat

Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Historically, resident from southeastern Oklahoma and Maryland to the Gulf Coast and central Florida; classified as endangered throughout its current range in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Found in pinelands; requires old-growth trees for habitat.

Listen:

Voice Text

"yank, yank", "stripp", "tsick"

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

● Song: "yank, yank", "stripp", "tsick"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Eats insects, berries, and nuts; forages by drilling for insects on trunks of pine trees, circling tree as it climbs.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Two to five white eggs are laid in a living pine tree cavity lined with dried wood chips. Nest is built 12 to 70 feet above the ground primarily by the male and helpers, who are usually males from the previous breeding season. Incubation ranges from 10 to 15 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Hairy Woodpecker has a black ear patch, white back, unmarked white underparts, unmarked white outer tail feathers, and different voice.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with short glide with wings partially folded to sides, producing up-and-down flight.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Historically, resident from southeastern Oklahoma and Maryland to the Gulf Coast and central Florida; classified as endangered throughout its current range in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Found in pinelands; requires old-growth trees for habitat.

^BreedingMonogamous, Mates for life, Small colonies

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight1.6 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America