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Picoides borealis

Photo by Joe A.
Conroe, Texas

[edit] Identification

20-22 cm long, with a wingspan of about 35 cm. Its back is barred with black and white horizontal stripes, black cap and nape, large white cheek patches, small red streak on each side of its black cap.

[edit] Distribution

Southeastern United States, from eastern Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana east to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Habitat

It nests in small colonies in mature pine forests.

[edit] Behaviour

Its diet includes ants, beetles, cockroaches, caterpillars, wood-boring insects, and spiders, and occasionally fruit and berries.

3-4 small white eggs are laid in the breeding male's roost cavity and are incubated by the helpers in the group for 10-12 days. Once hatched, the nestlings remain in the nest cavity for about 26 days.

[edit] External Links

• Here are directions to easiest spot to see red-cockaded woodpecker in Texas (as of August 2007). About an hour from Houston-Intercontinental Airport