Quantcast

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Picoides borealisOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Breeding Male Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger, All-purpose
  • Eye Color: Dull brown with cream-yellow outer ring in fledglings, which fades to smoke gray by the end of first year. Adults with dark brown iris may become gray-yellow and/or show a lighter halo in older adults.
  • Head Pattern: Capped, Malar or malar stripe
  • Crown Color: Black
  • Forehead Color: Black
  • Nape Color: Black
  • Throat Color: White
  • Cere color: No Data
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Breeding Male Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 22 cm (8.5 in)
  • Weight: 45 g (1.6 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: Red, White, Black
  • Underparts: White with black spotting.
  • Upperparts: Black and white barred.
  • Back Pattern: Spotted or speckled
  • Belly Pattern: Spotted or speckled
  • Breast Pattern: Spotted or speckled
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Breeding Male Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Alternates several rapid wing beats with short glide with wings partially folded to sides, producing up-and-down flight.
  • Wingspan Range: 41 cm (16 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Spotted
  • Upper Tail: Black with white spotted outer feathers.
  • Under Tail: Black and white.
  • Leg Color: Black
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Picoides borealis
Length8.5 Inches
Wingspan16 Inches

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Medium woodpecker, black-and-white barred back, black cap, nape, white face, throat, breast, black-spotted sides, flanks, belly. Dark eye-line ends in red cockade at rear of cap. Black wings have white bars. Black tail has black-spotted white outer feathers.

● Song: "yank, yank", "stripp", "tsick"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Eats insects, berries, and nuts; forages by drilling for insects on trunks of pine trees, circling tree as it climbs.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Two to five white eggs are laid in a living pine tree cavity lined with dried wood chips. Nest is built 12 to 70 feet above the ground primarily by the male and helpers, who are usually males from the previous breeding season. Incubation ranges from 10 to 15 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Hairy Woodpecker has a black ear patch, white back, unmarked white underparts, unmarked white outer tail feathers, and different voice.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with short glide with wings partially folded to sides, producing up-and-down flight.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & 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.
BreedingMonogamous, Mates for life, Small colonies
PopulationYes but uncommon
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight1.6 Ounces