Red-cockaded Woodpecker

(Picoides borealis)

*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