Behavior and Breeding Biology of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

Abstract

TE Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Dendrocopos borealis) is one of the least studied North American members of its family. Although its overall range, from the southeastern Atlantic Coast to Oklahoma and Texas, is not small, it is almost entirely confined to areas where open pine forests predominate. Many North American species with strict habitat requirements are in jeopardy as a result of modern man's activities. This woodpecker is no exception. The open pine forests it requires have been reduced by logging and the clearing of land for pastures. Further, fire, necessary for the maintenance of the open pinelands (Odum, 1959: 138), has been virtually excluded in much of the southern United States. Today the Red-cockaded Woodpecker is declining in parts of its range (Sprunt and Chamberlain, 1949; Burleigh, 1958) and even is thought by some to be a rare or endangered species (D. W. Lay, in litt.; Steirly, 1957). STUDY SITES AND METHODS I located several groups of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers near Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, between early May and December 1962, and watched them frequently at irregular intervals from 4 May 1962 to 11 August 1963. I revisited the study sites briefly in June 1966 and December 1968. Observations totaling over 240 hours were made throughout the year, but were concentrated during the breeding season.