Red-cockaded Woodpecker Biology

The red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) is a territorial, non-migratory bird species. Red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCWs) reside in mature pine forests in the southeastern United Sates and were listed as endangered in 1970 due to habitat loss and degradation. RCWs can be identified by the black and white barring pattern on their backs and large white cheek patches. Adult male woodpeckers have several red feathers, or "cockades," located between the black crown and white cheek. These feathers are usually visible only when the bird is agitated or wet.

While other woodpeckers bore out cavities in dead trees where the wood is rotten and soft, the red-cockaded woodpecker is the only one that 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, the heartwood, to become soft. Cavities generally take from 1 to 3 years to excavate. Cavity trees that are being actively used have numerous, small resin wells which exude sap. The birds keep the sap flowing apparently as a cavity defense mechanism against rat snakes and other predators.

Open mature pine or pine-hardwood stands with little or no understory vegetation provide quality habitat for the birds. RCWs at the Palmetto-Peartree Preserve are unique however, and build cavities in loblolly pines, often with significant understory, rather than the more typical longleaf pines.

The red-cockaded woodpecker has a complex social system; individuals live in social units called "groups", which typically consist of a breeding pair and up to four "helpers" (offspring from previous years). This social system is referred to as cooperative breeding. Each group occupies an aggregation of cavity trees called a "cluster" and may include 1 to 20 or more cavity trees on 3 to 60 acres (average cluster size is 10 acres). The typical territory for a group ranges from about 125 to 200 acres depending on habitat suitability and population density.