Red-headed Woodpecker

Description
The head and neck of the Red-headed Woodpecker are crimson in adulthood, and grey when the bird is young. The back and wing coverts (feathers covering the base of its flight-feathers) are black. Secondary wing feathers are white. The adults display conspicuous white wing patches in flight. Black lines run through these patches on the young. The bird can be very aggressive at feeding stations, driving off jays with spectacular power dives.

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Approximate range - not for legal use

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Distribution and Population
The bird occurs exclusively in North America. It breeds from southern Canada south to Florida. Facing a food shortage, the species will migrate to the southern two-thirds of its breeding range or, on rare occasion, to the north. In Canada, it breeds in southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, southern Ontario and, on rare occasion, in southwestern Quebec. It no longer breeds in southern New Brunswick. Occasionally it visits southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, central Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Its winter distribution is largely determined by food availability.

The Red-headed Woodpecker is not common anywhere in Canada except, perhaps, in extreme parts of southern Ontario. It is a rare but widespread summer resident in Ontario, ranging north to Kenora, Wawa and Sudbury. Ontario populations still occupy most of their original range. The population size of the woodpeckers in Ontario plummeted from 2,000 to 10,000 pairs in the early- to mid-1980s, and from 3,400 to 679 pairs in 1994. The Saskatchewan population is estimated at 10 to 100 breeding pairs. In Manitoba the breeding population is 1,000 to 10,000 pairs; a decline since the 1980s. Only three of 12 known breeding sites in Quebec were used from 1990 to 1994, and only one of these was used in consecutive years, making the bird a rare, infrequent and slowly declining breeder with a very localized distribution in that province.

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Habitat
The species is found in thinly treed deciduous forests, woodland and field edges, but also inhabits areas with dead trees, urban parks, farmyards and marsh. It also occurs along rivers and roads with a few large trees. It prefers timber stands treated with herbicides or burned, savanna-like grasslands with forest edges and scattered trees. The species likes open areas with snags and lush herbaceous ground cover, and does not fancy woods with closed canopies. Historically, its habitat availability increased at the onset of European settlement. The habitat then declined steadily due to forest destruction and dead-tree removal for firewood and esthetics.

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Biology
Males choose nest sites. They prefer cavities in dead or partially dead deciduous tree, but will nest in living trees, hollow posts and utility poles. Adults often return to nest in the same cavity, the same tree or the immediate area in subsequent years. The species is monogamous. Females lay four to seven eggs between May and July in Canada. Both parents brood the eggs during the 12- to 13-day incubation period and later tend the hatchlings. The young fledge 27 to 30 days after birth. They follow the parents until chased away about 25 days later. Adults raise two broods per year in the southern parts of the species' range, including Ontario. They raise one brood elsewhere, in spite of persistent re-nesting. This species catches insects in flight more than most other woodpecker species do, and supplements its diet with fruit, nuts, and even eggs of other birds.

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Threats
The species is easily disturbed by human activities. Habitat loss is attributable to logging, firewood cutting, agriculture and dead-tree removal for esthetic purposes. As well, competition from European Starlings for nesting sites, and increased road traffic which leads to birds colliding with cars while stooping for insects along roads, are factors that affect the bird's population.

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Protection
Species that were designated at risk by COSEWIC prior to October 1999 must be reassessed against revised criteria before they can be considered for addition to Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). To find out when re-assessment of this species is anticipated, please consult the COSEWIC web site.

The Red-headed Woodpecker, its nests and eggs are protected in Canada and the United States under legislation implementing the 1916 Migratory Birds Convention.

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References
- Page, Annette M. 1996. Status Report on the RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 55 pp.

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