The bird found in the Rocky Mountains that has a distinctive red head is the Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). This medium-sized woodpecker has a striking appearance, with its entirely crimson red head, black and white body plumage, and white wing patches that are visible in flight. The Red-headed Woodpecker is known for its high-pitched, repetitive squeal calls and its aerial acrobatics as it forages for the insects, nuts, and fruit that make up its diet.
In the opening paragraphs, it is important to answer key questions related to the topic of the Red-headed Woodpecker concisely before providing more detailed information in the article body. The questions answered are:
What does the Red-headed Woodpecker look like?
The Red-headed Woodpecker is a medium-sized bird, measuring 19-22 cm (7.5-8.5 inches) long with a wingspan of 42 cm (16.5 inches). As the name suggests, it has a completely bright red head, neck, throat and upper breast. The back and wings are mostly black with large white patches on the wings. The underparts are white. The tail is black with white outer tail feathers. The beak is long, chisel-shaped and grayish-black. The legs and feet are gray.
Distinctive Markings
The Red-headed Woodpecker’s most distinctive feature is its vivid red head. The black and white body plumage provides a striking contrast with the red head. When perched, the white wing patches are conspicuous. In flight, the white wings stand out, making this woodpecker easy to identify.
Where is the Red-headed Woodpecker found?
The Red-headed Woodpecker is found across the central and eastern parts of North America. Its breeding range stretches west to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and southwestern Canada. Their range extends southeast to Florida and the Gulf Coast.
Rocky Mountain Range
In the Rocky Mountains, Red-headed Woodpeckers can be found in scattered populations from southern Alberta and British Columbia south through eastern Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado to New Mexico. They inhabit open woodlands, especially those containing oak, beech or hickory trees, along mountain foothills and valleys.
What type of habitat does the Red-headed Woodpecker prefer?
The Red-headed Woodpecker occurs primarily in open, deciduous woodlands and woodland edges. It prefers forests broken up by clearings, burns, or logged areas containing large, dead trees. It is also found in areas with tall, old trees surrounding agricultural fields or grasslands.
Ideal Habitat
Ideally, Red-headed Woodpecker habitat includes a sparse, open deciduous forest containing mature trees, dead snags for nesting, and nearby grassy areas or clearings that provide foraging grounds. Oak and beech forests, riparian woodlands, savannas, forest edges near streams and burned forest areas are prime locations. They sometimes inhabit orchards and urban parks with mature trees.
What does the Red-headed Woodpecker eat?
The Red-headed Woodpecker is omnivorous, eating a varied diet consisting mainly of insects, nuts, seeds, fruits and berries. Its diet includes:
- Beetles, ants, bees, caterpillars, grubs, flies, crickets
- Spiders and other arthropods
- Nuts like acorns and beechnuts
- Grains, wheat, corn
- Berries, fruits, and seeds of trees like dogwood, sumac, grape, apple, cherry
- Occasionally small lizards, eggs, nestlings
Foraging Strategy
This woodpecker forages primarily on tree trunks, searching crevices and stripping away bark for the insects inside. It also sallies from perches to snatch insects from the air. Nuts, seeds and fruits are often obtained from the ground. The Red-headed Woodpecker is known to store food in bark crevices or tree cavities for later consumption.
Food item | Percent of diet |
---|---|
Insects | 70% |
Fruits/berries | 10% |
Nuts/grains | 15% |
Other (eggs, lizards, etc) | 5% |
How does the Red-headed Woodpecker nest and raise young?
The Red-headed Woodpecker nests in the cavities it excavates in dead trees or dead parts of live trees. The nest cavities are typically 15-60 feet above the ground. Both sexes help excavate the nesting cavity, a process that takes 1-2 weeks.
Nesting
Red-headed Woodpeckers line their nest cavities with wood chips. The female lays 4-7 glossy white eggs and incubates them for 12-13 days. Both parents feed the young, who fledge in about 27-29 days but remain dependent on their parents for another month. This species usually raises one brood per year.
Nesting Facts | Description |
---|---|
Clutch Size | 4 to 7 eggs |
Incubation Period | 12 to 13 days |
Fledging Period | 27 to 29 days |
What are some interesting facts about the Red-headed Woodpecker?
The Red-headed Woodpecker exhibits some fascinating behaviors and traits, including:
- It is one of the most proficient flycatchers among North American woodpeckers, plucking insects out of the air with great agility.
- It stores live food like nuts and seeds in bark or wood crevices, eating them later. To prevent insects from escaping, it may wedge them into cracks.
- Red-headed Woodpeckers are highly territorial, aggressively defending nest sites and food resources.
- They have a distinctive vocalization described as a high-pitched squeal, “kyeer.” Males and females duet with this call.
- This is the only North American woodpecker known to rob nests of eggs and nestlings for food.
Unusual Traits
The Red-headed Woodpecker has several unusual behavioral quirks among North American woodpeckers, from its food hoarding habits to eating eggs and nestlings of other birds. Its aerial insect-catching ability and cavity excavation strictly in dead wood are also notable. Vocally, its shrill calls are very different from other woodpeckers’ drumming.
What is the conservation status of the Red-headed Woodpecker?
The Red-headed Woodpecker has experienced a declining population trend in recent decades and is considered a Near-Threatened species:
- Population has decreased by over 70% from 1966 to 2014 across its range.
- Declines attributed to loss of mature open woodlands, dead trees and oak savannas.
- Classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
- Climate change may exacerbate declines through increased competition with other woodpeckers expanding northward.
Threats
Habitat loss and degradation pose the greatest threats. Logging practices reducing dead trees and fire suppression altering natural succession cycles have removed nesting and foraging habitats. Invasive species like European Starlings compete for nest cavities. More research is needed to better understand causes of decline.
Year | Population Estimate | Decline From 1966 |
---|---|---|
1966 | 2.2 million | – |
2014 | 640,000 | 71% decrease |
Conclusion
In summary, the Red-headed Woodpecker is a historically abundant, yet now vulnerable species endemic to North America. Its dramatic red head makes it easy to identify. This woodpecker inhabits open woodlands across central and eastern North America, including parts of the Rocky Mountains. Dead trees are a critical requirement providing nesting cavities and food storage sites. Conservation efforts focused on preserving stands of mature, dead trees will give the Red-headed Woodpecker the best chance to rebound. This unique woodpecker serves as an indicator of forest health, and sustaining viable populations will contribute to ecosystem stability.