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*Species description adapted from Tesky, 1994.
LEGAL STATUS:
Federally listed as Endangered. Florida lists it as Threatened [1, 2].
TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS:
Breeding season - April to July [3]
Clutch - 2 to 4 eggs
Incubation - 10 to 12 days
Fledging - 26 days
PREFERRED HABITAT:
Colony site - Most red-cockaded woodpecker colonies are found in relatively open (60-90 sq. ft basal area/acre), parklike stands of pure pine with sparse hardwood midstories [4, 5, 6]. Active colonies can be found in pine stands with a wide range of overstory stocking, but the birds do not tolerate dense hardwood stocking in the midstory. Active red-cockaded woodpecker colonies are seldom found or seldom persist where hardwood stocking reaches 34.8 square feet per acre [4]. Red-cockaded woodpeckers will abandon nest cavities when the understory reaches the height of the cavity entrance [7, 5]. Colony sites encompass an average of 10 acres (4 ha) [6]. In most colonies all the cavity trees could be contained within a circle about 1,500 feet (457 m) in diameter [3].
Cavity trees - Living, old-growth southern yellow pine (Pinus spp.) trees that contain red heart rot (Fomes pini) are preferred for nest and roost cavity excavation [8, 6]. No single cavity is made specifically for a nest site. A pair generally has several roost holes, one of which they choose for a nest hole [9]. Usually, each clan member has a cavity for roosting and only one bird roosts in a cavity [3]. Birds without cavities in live trees will roost in scars on pine trees, crotches between limbs, tree canopies, or cavities in dead trees [3, 10]. Roosts located in the canopy are usually at the base of a limb or where there is a slight indentation or overhanging structure to give some protection [10]. Red-cockaded woodpecker show some preference for mature longleaf pine [5]; however, cavities have also been excavated in loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, pond pine, slash pine, pitch pine, Virginia pine (P. virginiana), and cypress (Taxodium spp.) [3]. Red-cockaded woodpeckers select trees with clear, straight trunks and high resin flow [6]. Cavities are generally excavated below the lowest branch [3, 7]. The average age of red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees in which a new cavity has been excavated is about 95 years for longleaf pine and 75 years for loblolly and other southern pines [7]. It may take several years for red-cockaded woodpeckers to complete a cavity. Once completed, the cavity may be used for decades by the birds and their descendants. Some have been used for more than 50 years. It is common to find a tree with several cavities, but the birds may not use all the cavities at a given time [3]. Some red-cockaded woodpeckers continue to use excavated cavities for 2 years or more after the tree has died [11, 12].
Foraging habitat - Red-cockaded woodpeckers most commonly forage in pine or pine hardwood
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