BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Picoides borealis | Red-Cockaded Woodpecker 



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
The clan - Red-cockaded woodpeckers live in clans which consist of a
mated pair, the current year's offspring, and immature males from
previous years that aid the parents with incubation, feeding, and
brooding duties [32,49].  The clan may have from two to nine birds, but
there is never more than one breeding pair [19].  Young females leave
the colony in late winter of their first year and wander until they are
accepted into a clan that has lost its breeding female [22].

Breeding season - Red-cockaded woodpeckers nest from April to July [19].

Clutch size and incubation - Red-cockaded woodpeckers generally lay two
to four eggs.  The eggs are incubated for 10 to 12 days.  The clan
members take turns incubating the eggs during the day, but the breeding
male incubates the eggs at night.

Fledging - Red-cockaded woodpeckers fledge at about 26 days.  The adults
continue to feed the young after they leave the nest, but feeding
decreases as the summer progresses [19].

Red-cockaded woodpeckers do not migrate; they maintain year-round
territories near nesting and roosting trees [32].


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 [28,32,44].  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-cockadeed woodpecker colonies are seldom found or seldom persist
where hardwood stocking reaches 34.8 square feet per acre [28].
Red-cockaded woodpeckers will abandon nest cavities when the understory
reaches the height of the cavity entrance [23,32].  Colony sites
encompass an average of 10 acres (4 ha) [44].  In most colonies all the
cavity trees could be contained within a circle about 1,500 feet (457 m)
in diameter [19].

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 [29,44].  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 [50].  Usually, each clan member has a
cavity for roosting and only one bird roosts in a cavity [19].  Birds
without cavities in live trees will roost in scars on pine trees,
crotches between limbs, tree canopies, or cavities in dead trees
[19,51].  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 [51].  Red-cockaded woodpecker show some preference for
mature longleaf pine [32]; 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.)  [19].
Red-cockaded woodpeckers select trees with clear, straight trunks and
high resin flow [44].  Cavities are generally excavated below the lowest
branch [19,23].  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 [23].  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 [23].  It
is common to find a tree with several cavities, but the birds may not
use all the cavities at a given time [19].  Some red-cockaded
woodpeckers continue to use excavated cavities for 2 years or more after
the tree has died [16,47].

Foraging habitat - Red-cockaded woodpeckers most commonly forage in pine
or pine hardwood stands 30 years old or older [39].  Good foraging
habitat consists of pine stands with trees 9 inches (22.9 cm) d.b.h.
and larger.  The hardwood midstory may be well developed.  Red-cockaded
woodpeckers also forage in pole-size stands (4 to 9 inches [10-23 cm]
d.b.h.), but little use is made of sapling stands (< 4 inches [10 cm]
d.b.h.)  [5,19].  Clans regularly forage on pines scattered through
hardwood stands, but pure hardwood stands are seldom used [18,19].  The
size of foraging habitat needed by a clan varies with the quality of the
habitat.  While 100 acres (40.5 ha) of mature pine is sufficient for
some clans, clans commonly forage over several hundred acres where
habitat conditions are not ideal [19,23].


COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
NO-ENTRY


FOOD HABITS : 
Red-cockaded woodpeckers scale the bark on trunks and limbs and excavate
for spiders, ants, cockroaches, centipedes, and the eggs and larvae of
various insects including corn earworms (Heliothis zea) [3,19,23].  They
spend considerable time feeding on lightning-struck pines and dying
trees that are heavily infested with insects [3,19].  Red-cockaded
woodpeckers also feed on the fruit of black cherry (Prunus serotina),
southern bayberry (Myrica cerifera), black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), and
pecan (Carya illinoensis).


PREDATORS : 
Red-cockaded woodpeckers excavate small holes called resin wells above
and below cavities.  The resulting resin flow is a deterrent to climbing
gray rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta spiloides), a predator of red-cockaded
woodpecker eggs and nestlings [22].  Other possible predators of eggs
and nestlings include other snakes, southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys
volans), Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii), and sharp-shinned hawks
(A. striatus) [5,31].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
The range and population of the red-cockaded woodpecker has been
drastically reduced through fragmentation and loss of habitat.  A large
portion of the southern pine forests have been harvested and cleared for
agriculture or other uses [19,23].  Continued habitat loss and
fragmentation will make the species more vulnerable to extinction as
populations become increasingly smaller and more isolated [22].

A successful management plan for red-cockaded woodpeckers must do five
things:  (1) retain existing cavity trees, (2) provide trees for new
cavities, (3) provide adequate foraging habitat, (4) control hardwoods
in the colony site, and (5) provide future colony sites [19].

A high percentage of red-cockaded woodpecker cavities are found in pines
infected with red heart rot.  This fungus weakens the heartwood and
makes cavity excavation easier.  Some cavity trees apparently do not
have red heart rot, but these trees may have softer than average
heartwood.  It is not certain if the red-cockaded woodpecker needs red
heart rot in order to make a cavity in the average pine [19,29,44].

Artifical cavities can be inserted into chainsaw-excavated live trees
for red-cockaded woodpeckers [52,53].  Of primary importance is the
diameter of the tree at the height the cavity is to be constructed.
Diameter at cavity height must be at least 15 inches (38 cm).  Weakening
of the tree as a result of excavating the cavity is a concern.  Whenever
possible, healthy trees with large crowns should be selected to help
assure that the tree will outlast the cavity.  Over 60 percent of the
artifical cavities on the Francis Marion National Forest in South
Carolina are now being used for nesting or roosting.  Dispite a tornado
and severe windstorms in the area, none of the trees have broken at
cavity height [52].

The red-cockaded woodpecker recovery plan indicates that nesting habitat
can be provided by lengthening rotations, leaving old-growth remnant
trees scattered throughout younger stands, and perpetuating small
patches of remnant old growth throughout the forest [42].  Colony sites
should not be isolated from foraging areas [19].  Jackson [22] stated
that "corridors of suitable habitat to link populations together through
management of interstate highway rights-of-way is recommended.  Colonies
occur in interstate rights-of-way, and the birds will use such
corridors" [22].

In general, the longer the rotation age, the greater the opportunity
red-cockaded woodpeckers have to maintain existing colonies and create
new ones.  A minimum of 100-year rotations for longleaf pine and 80-year
rotations for other pines is recommended [19].  If the decision to
harvest has been made, shelterwood cuts instead of clear-cuts may
preserve a supply of potential cavity trees if pines 80 to 120 years old
are left as residuals.  This method would also create the open pine
savannah habitat preferred by red-cockaded woodpeckers, and would leave
some foraging habitat while reducing the susceptibility of the residual
stand to southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis) [9].

Control of hardwoods in the colony site is vital.  Hardwoods should not
exceed 15 feet (4.6 m) or so in height, especially within 50 feet (15.2
m) of cavity trees.  Stands containing colony sites should also be
thinned to 50 to 80 square feet of basal area per acre.  Older trees
should be left for future cavity trees [19].

According to Seagle and others [39], "because foraging habitat is less
specialized than nesting habitat, a variety of strategies can be used to
provide necessary foraging habitat within a suitable radius of the
colony site."  Hooper and others [19] suggested planting pines at a
10x10-foot or 12x12-foot (3x3-m or 3.7x3.7-m) spacing to aid rapid stand
development.  Regeneration areas of 10 to 30 acres (4-12 ha) have less
impact on the birds than larger ones.  Thinning sapling and pole stands
may improve foraging habitat [19].

Unenlarged or not noticeably enlarged red-cockaded woodpecker cavities
are later utilize by red-bellied (Melanerpes carloinus) and red-headed
(M. erythrocephalus) woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches (Sitta
carolinensis), tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor), eastern bluebirds
(Sialia sialis), and southern flying squirrels.  Those species that
utilize enlarged red-cockaded woodpecker holes are red-bellied and
red-headed woodpeckers, northern flickers (Colaptes auratus), pileated
woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus), tufted titmouse, great crested
flycatchers (Myiarchus crinitus), eastern screech-owls (Otus asio), wood
ducks (Aix sponsa), fox squirrels (Siurus niger), gray rat snakes, and
honey bees.  All of these species are known to nest in these cavities
except pileated woodpeckers and northern flickers, which are only known
to use the cavities as roosts [51].  Both red-bellied and red-headed
woodpeckers may delay nesting to use red-cockaded woodpecker cavities [50].



REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Picoides borealis | Red-Cockaded Woodpecker