ENDANGERED

SPECIES

This Species is Protected Under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973

RED-COCKADED
WOODPECKER

Picoides borealis

n the mid-1800s, naturalist John

[isn reported that the red-
ockaded woodpecker was found

abundantly in the pine forests of the
southeastern United States. Historically,
this woodpecker’s range extended from.
Florida to New Jersey, as far west as
Texas and Oklahoma, and inland to
Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Today it is estimated that there
are about 4,500 family units of red-
cockaded woodpeckers, or 10,000 to
14,000 birds, living in clusters (groups
of cavity trees) from Florida to Virginia
and west to southeast Oklahoma and
eastern Texas, representing about | per-
cent of the woodpecker’s original range.

About the size of the common cardi-
nal, the red-cockaded woodpecker is
approximately 7 inches long (18 to 20
cm), with a wingspan of about 15 inches
(35 to 38 cm). Its back is barred with
black and white horizontal stripes. The
red-cockaded woodpecker’s most distin-
guishing feature is a black cap and nape
(the back of the neck) that encircle
large white cheek patches. Rarely visi-

The red-cockaded woodpecker
makes its home in the mature pine
forests of the southeastern United
States. While other woodpeckers
bore out cavities in dead trees where
the wood is rotten and soft, the
red-cockaded woodpecker is the
‘only one which excavates cavities
exclusively in living pine trees.

ble, except perhaps during the breeding
season and periods of territorial defense,
the male has a small red streak on each
side of its black cap called a cockade,
hence its name.

The red-cockaded woodpecker
makes its home in mature pine forests;
more specifically, those with long-leaf
pines averaging 80 to 120 years old and
loblolly pines averaging 70 to 100 years
old. While other woodpeckers bore out
cavities in dead trees where the wood is
rotten and soft, the red-cockaded wood-
pecker is the only one which excavates
cavities exclusively in living pine trees.

The older pines favored by the red-
cockaded woodpecker often suffer from
a fungus called red heart disease which
attacks the center of the trunk, causing
the inner wood to become soft. Cavities
generally take 1 to 3 years to excavate.

The red-cockaded woodpecker feeds
mainly on beetles, ants, roaches, cater-
pillars, wood-boring insects, and spi-
ders, and occasionally fruits and berries.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers are a
territorial, nonmigratory, cooperative

breeding
species, fre-
quently having
the same mate
for several years.
The nesting season
lasts from April
through June. The
breeding female lays three
to four eggs in the breeding
male’s roost cavity. Group
members incubate the small
white eggs for 10 to 12 days.
Once hatched, the nestlings remain in
the nest cavity for about 26 days.

Upon fledging, the young often
remain with the parents, forming groups
of up to nine members, but more typi-
cally four to five members. There is only
one pair of breeding birds within each
group, and they normally raise only a
single brood each year. The other group
members, usually males from the previ-
ous breeding season, help incubate the
eggs and raise the young. Juvenile
females generally leave the group before
the next breeding season, in search of
single male groups.

Each group needs an average of 200
acres of old pine forest to support its for-
aging and nesting habitat needs. Some
groups have been successful on fewer
acres while others require as many as
300 acres to support themselves.

Rat snakes are a primary predator of
red-cockaded woodpeckers. Agile tree
climbers, rat snakes eat woodpecker
eggs and nestlings. But the red-
cockaded woodpecker has an effective
means of defense. It chips small holes
(called resin wells) in the bark of the
cavity tree, above and below the cavity.
From these wells, sap (resin) oozes
down the trunk of the tree. When the
snake comes in contact with the sap,
the sap adheres to the scales on its
underside. Even tiny amounts of resin
inhibit the movement of the scales, pre-
venting the snake from climbing higher.



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of breeding birds within each group; the others help

Red-cockaded woodpeckers spend a
significant amount of time and energy
each day maintaining the flow of the
resin wells. If the tree should die, or the
damage from maintaining the wells
becomes so great that the sap stops
flowing, the woodpeckers will eventu-
ally abandon the cavity tree.

The red-cockaded woodpecker plays
a vital role in the intricate web of life of
the southern pine forests. A number of
other birds and small mammals use the
nest cavities excavated by red-cockaded
woodpeckers, such as chickadees, blue-
birds, titmice, and several other wood-
pecker species, including the downy,
hairy, and red-bellied woodpecker.
Larger woodpeckers may take over a
ted-cockaded woodpecker cavity, some-
times enlarging the hole enough to
allow screech owls, wood ducks, and
even raccoons to later move in Flying
squirrels, several species of reptiles and
amphibians, and insects, primarily bees
and wasps, also will use red-cockaded
cavities.

From the late 1800s to the mid 1900s,
the red-cockaded woodpecker rapidly
declined as its mature pine forest habi-
tat was altered for a variety of uses, pri-
marily timber harvest and agriculture.
The species was listed as endangered in

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Red-cockaded woodpeckers are a territorial, nonmigratory, cooperative breeding species.
They live in groups of up to nine members, but more typically four to five. There is only one pair

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incubate the eggs and raise the young.

1970 (under a law that preceded the
Endangered Species Act of 1973),
which means the species is considered
in danger of extinction throughout all
or a significant portion of its range.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
has developed a recovery strategy for
the red-cockaded woodpecker that
includes the participation of other fed-
eral and state agencies and private
landowners.

Most of the forested pine areas old
and large enough to provide adequate
habitat for the red-cockaded wood-
pecker are on federal lands. The U.S.
Forest Service and the Department of
Defense have developed special man-
agement guidelines for woodpecker
habitat areas on National Forests and
military installations.

While red-cockaded woodpecker
recovery is dependent upon federal land
protection, the Fish and Wildlife
Service also is developing cooperative
conservation agreements with states
and private landowners, too.

In 1993, the Georgia-Pacific
Company established a landmark con-
servation agreement with the Fish and
Wildlife Service to help protect the red-
cockaded woodpecker on thousands of
acres of company land. Since that time,

two more companies, Hancock Timber
Resource Group and Champion
International Corporation, have estab-
lished similar conservation agreements
with the Fish and Wildlife Service to
protect the red-cockaded woodpecker
on their lands. Three other companies
are currently working with the Fish and
Wildlife Service to develop conserva-
tion agreements.

The red-cockaded woodpecker once
shared its pine forest habitat with the
ivory-billed woodpecker, the largest
North American woodpecker, now gen-
erally considered to be extinct. But
there is still hope for the red-cockaded
woodpecker, with continuing coopera-
tive efforts. In fact, some populations
are now stable or increasing.

BIOLOGUE SERIES

Prepared by:
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

1995