Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Overview
Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Medium woodpecker, black-and-white barred back, black cap, nape, white face, throat, breast, black-spotted sides, flanks, belly. Dark eye-line ends in red cockade at rear of cap. Black wings have white bars. Black tail has black-spotted white outer feathers.

Range and Habitat
Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Historically, resident from southeastern Oklahoma and Maryland to the Gulf Coast and central Florida; classified as endangered throughout its current range in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Found in pinelands; requires old-growth trees for habitat.

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker has a small range, confined to the southeastern portion of the United States. This bird prefers temperate forest ecosystems, though it can live on arable land or in rural gardens. The global population of this bird is estimated at only 11,000 individuals and shows significant signs of decline that necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker is Vulnerable.

INTERESTING FACTS
The Red-cockaded Woodpecker one of the few bird species endemic to the United States. A cockade is a ribbon or ornament worn on a hat. The "cockade" of this woodpecker is the tiny red line on the side of the head of the male. It may be hidden and is very difficult to see in the field. While other woodpeckers bore out cavities in dead trees where the wood is rotten and soft, this is the only one which excavates cavities exclusively in living pine trees. A group of woodpeckers has many collective nouns, including a "descent", "drumming", and "gatling" of woodpeckers.