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Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Silhouette WoodpeckersWoodpeckers
Red-cockaded WoodpeckerDryobates borealis
  • ORDER: Piciformes
  • FAMILY: Picidae

Basic Description

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is a habitat specialist of the Southeast’s once-vast longleaf pine stands. Its habitat—old pines with very little understory—was shaped by the region’s frequent lightning fires. They also occur in stands of loblolly, slash, and other pine species. The birds dig cavities in living pines softened by heartwood rot. They live in family groups that work together to dig cavities and raise young. The species declined drastically as its original habitat was cut down, and the species was listed as Endangered in 1970.

More ID Info
image of range map for Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
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Find This Bird

With much of this species’ original habitat lost to logging, your best bet for finding this species is in national wildlife refuges, national forests, and other federal preserves that can protect and manage large areas of habitat. Because the species is endangered, some known nesting areas may be off limits and bird watchers should respect those regulations. However, in places where public access is allowed, these birds’ nesting and foraging locations are well known and a quick chat with a ranger or visitor center manager can quickly point you in the right direction. You’ll want to be searching open stands of old pines with very little growth in the understory or subcanopy—if you find yourself in denser vegetation where you can’t easily see the pine trunks, chances are there won’t be any Red-cockaded Woodpeckers there. Nest and roost trees can be easy to spot because of sap flowing down the trunk near the cavities—although bear in mind that the birds typically have several such cavities in their territory.

Other Names

  • Pico de Florida (Spanish)
  • Pic à face blanche (French)
  • Cool Facts