Leuconotopicus borealis
The Red-cockaded Woodpecker (*Leuconotopicus borealis*) is a small to medium-sized woodpecker, measuring approximately 18-23 cm (7-9 inches) in length with a wingspan of 34-39 cm (13-15 inches) and weighing 40-56 grams (1.4-2.0 ounces). Its distinctive plumage features a black cap and nape, a prominent white cheek patch contrasting with a black line extending from the eye, and a strikingly barred black-and-white back. Males possess a small, often concealed, red streak (the 'cockade') on each ...
This woodpecker is an obligate associate of open, mature pine forests, particularly longleaf pine (*Pinus palustris*), found in low to moderate elevations across the southeastern United States.
Primarily insectivorous, their diet consists mainly of ants, beetles, roaches, and other arthropods and their larvae, supplemented seasonally with pine seeds and berries. They forage by pecking, scaling, and gleaning on the trunks and limbs of pines.
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are diurnal, spending their days foraging and maintaining their intricate cavity systems, and roosting individually in sap-exuding cavities at night. Their foraging strategy involves gleaning insects from the bark of pine trees, often scaling off loose bark flakes to acce...
The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is a non-migratory resident species endemic to the southeastern United States. Historically, its range extended from southeastern Virginia south through Florida, and west to eastern Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, encompassing the vast longleaf pine ecosystems. Today, i...
Near Threatened
- The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is the only North American woodpecker that excavates its roosting and nesting cavities exclusively in living pine trees. - It can take a clan several years to excavate a single cavity in a living pine, with some taking up to 10 years to complete. - The sticky resin t...