Red-headed woodpecker

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File:Melanerpes erythrocephalus -tree trunk-USA.jpg

Adult males and females are identical in size and plumage

The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America. Its breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the east-central United States. It is rated as least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Endangered species, having been down-listed from near threatened in 2018.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>

The red-headed woodpecker should not be confused with the red-bellied woodpecker, which is similar in size but has a vibrant orange-red crown and nape; the red-bellied woodpecker is named for the pale reddish blush of its lower belly and has a distinctly patterned black and white back rather than the solid black one of the red-headed woodpecker.

TaxonomyEdit

The English naturalist Mark Catesby described and illustrated the red-headed woodpecker in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, which was published between 1729 and 1732. Catesby used the English name "The Red-headed Wood-pecker" and the Latin Picus capite toto rubro.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1758, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae to its tenth edition. He included the red-headed woodpecker and coined the binomial name Picus erythrocephalus, citing Catesby's book.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The specific epithet combines the Classical Greek ἐρυθρός, eruthros, meaning "red", and κεφαλή, kephalos meaning "headed".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The type locality is South Carolina.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The red-headed woodpecker is one of 24 species now placed in the genus Melanerpes, which was introduced by the English ornithologist William Swainson in 1832 specifically to accommodate the red-headed woodpecker.<ref>Template:Cite book The title page gives the date as 1831 but the volume was not actually published until the following year.</ref><ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognized.<ref name=ioc/>

DescriptionEdit

Adults are distinctly tricolored, with a black back and tail, a white belly and rump, and a red head and neck. The wings are black with white secondary remiges. Adult males and females are identical in plumage.<ref name="BirdsOfCarolinas">Template:Cite book</ref> Juveniles have similar markings, but their heads are grey.<ref name="BirdsOfCarolinas"/> Red-headed woodpeckers are entirely crimson above their shoulders.

These are mid-sized woodpeckers. Both sexes measure from Template:Convert in length, with a wingspan of Template:Convert.<ref>Red-headed Woodpecker. All About Birds.</ref><ref>Red-headed woodpecker. biokids.umich.edu</ref> They weigh from Template:Convert, with an average of Template:Convert.<ref name=r1/> Each wing measures Template:Convert; the tail measures Template:Convert, the bill measures Template:Convert and the tarsus measures Template:Convert.<ref>Winkler, Hans; Christie, David A. and Nurney, David (1995) Woodpeckers: An Identification Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World, Houghton Mifflin, Template:ISBN</ref> The maximum longevity in the wild is 9.9 years.<ref name=r1>Template:Cite journal</ref>

This species gives a tchur-tchur call or a drum on its territory.

BehaviorEdit

Food and feedingEdit

The red-headed woodpecker is omnivorous, eating insects, seeds, fruits, berries, nuts, and occasionally small rodents―even the eggs of other birds.<ref name="BirdsOfCarolinas"/> About two-thirds of its diet consists of plants.<ref name="BirdsOfCarolinas"/> Red-headed woodpeckers keep food caches.<ref name=":4" /> This behavior is only seen in three other species of woodpeckers: the acorn woodpecker, the downy woodpecker, and the red-bellied woodpecker.<ref name=":4" /> They have been known to stuff food in tree cavities, crevices, and under tree bark.<ref name=":4" /> This keeps them well fed throughout the year.<ref name=":4" />

BreedingEdit

During the breeding season, a mature male red-headed woodpecker will establish a territory and begin calling and drumming to attract a mate.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Once the male has paired with a female, the relationship is believed to be mostly monogamous, and that they will remain paired for multiple breeding seasons.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is uncertain whether these relationships are truly monogamous as there have been reports of polygyny.<ref name=":3" />

NestingEdit

When in an established territory, the parents become very territorial.<ref name=":5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They have been known to destroy nests and eggs of other birds in their territory.<ref name=":5" /> Females choose the location of their new nesting cavity, indicating their choice by tapping on a site.<ref name=":2" /> This site could be a natural cavity, the wintering cavity used by the male, a cavity used the season before, a fence post, utility poles, or a dead tree.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> If the chosen site does not already have a nesting cavity, then both parents will drill out the nesting cavity, though the male will do most of the work.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> The chosen locations of these cavities are mostly in dead trees or utility poles between Template:Convert above the ground.<ref name="BirdsOfCarolinas" /> In early May, the female lays four to seven white eggs, which are incubated for two weeks.<ref name="BirdsOfCarolinas" /> The female incubates the eggs during the day and the male takes over at night.<ref name=":2" /> After hatching, the young are cared for by both parents.<ref name=":2" /> The young will stay in the nest until they are old enough to fledge, which is usually after 27 to 31 days.<ref name=":2" /> After the first brood leaves the nest, the parents may start a second brood while still taking care of the fledglings from the first brood, though the first brood will not need as much care.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> This second brood may be raised in the same nesting cavity as the first, but it is common for the parents to make a fresh nesting cavity.<ref name=":2" /> The fledglings are proficient flyers, and most are able to feed and care for themselves without too much help from the parents.<ref name=":3" /> Most of the fledglings will disperse on their own within a couple of weeks, but if a fledgling is still in the territory after a few weeks the parents will chase them out to force them to disperse.<ref name=":3" /> Two broods can be raised in a single nesting season.<ref name="BirdsOfCarolinas" />

MigrationEdit

By late October, northern birds begin to migrate to the southern parts of the range to overwinter. Most will return to their breeding range by late April.<ref name="henninger1906" /><ref name="OOS" /> Southern birds may not migrate.

StatusEdit

The red-headed woodpecker was returned to a designation of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Endangered Species in 2018, having been downgraded to near threatened in 2004 after it appeared to have experienced a 65.5% decline in population over 40 years.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> From 1966 to 2015 there was a greater than 1.5% annual population decline throughout the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys and central Florida.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Most of the decline in red-headed Woodpeckers can be attributed to loss of habitat and the competition for nesting cavities with the invasive European starling.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Increased habitat management is claimed to have helped in part in stabilizing its numbers, leading to its down-listing.<ref name=":0" />

The red-headed woodpecker was historically a common species in southern Canada and the east-central United States. Consistent long-term population declines have resulted in red-headed woodpecker's threatened status in Canada and several states in the US. Throughout most of its range, it inhabits areas that have been heavily altered by humans. Factors attributed to the red-headed woodpecker's decline include loss of overall habitat and, within habitats, loss of standing dead wood required for nest sites,<ref>Smith, K. G., J. H. Withgott, and P. G. Rodewald. (2000). Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online, Ithaca.</ref> limitations in food supply,<ref>Ontario Partners in Flight. (2008). Ontario Landbird Conservation Plan: Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Plain, North American Bird Conservation Region 13. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Bird Studies Canada, Environmental Canada. Draft Version 2.0.</ref> and possible nest-site competition with other cavity nesters such as European starlings or red-bellied woodpeckers.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Popular cultureEdit

In 1996, the United States Postal Service issued a 2-cent postage stamp depicting a perched red-headed woodpecker.<ref name=ASP/> The stamp was discontinued at some time thereafter, but re-issued in 1999 and remained available for purchase until 2006.<ref name=phil/>