General

Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Medium-sized woodpecker with black-and-white barred back, black cap and nape, white face, throat, and breast, and black-spotted sides, flanks, and belly. Dark eye-line terminates in a small, red cockade at rear of cap. Wings are black with white bars; tail is black with black-spotted white outer feathers. Female is similar but lacks red cockade.

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 to Call

Voice Text

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

Interesting Facts

 The Red-cockaded Woodpecker one of the few bird species endemic to the United States.

 While other woodpeckers bore out cavities in dead trees where the wood is rotten and soft, this is the only one which excavates cavities exclusively in living pine trees.

 A cockade is a ribbon or ornament worn on a hat. The "cockade" of this woodpecker is the tiny red line on the side of the head of the male. It may be hidden and is very difficult to see in the field.

 A group of woodpeckers has many collective nouns, including a "descent", "drumming", and "gatling" of woodpeckers.

Author

Gary Owen Dick