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The red-cockaded woodpecker requires the Southeast's shrinking old-growth pine forests for survival.
The woodpecker excavates cavities in pine trees that average 80-100 years old. They choose trees that are infected with red heart disease, a nonlethal fungus that softens the heartwood, allowing the birds to dig their cavities.
These trees provide sanctuary from fire as well as climbing predators including snakes. The woodpecker pecks holes around the nest called resin wells. The old trees ooze resin at just the right rate, creating a protective sticky moat around the nesting cavity.
Nesting cavities can take years to complete, and are handed down from fathers to sons. The family that lives in a nest includes the breeding pair, their offspring of the year, and a couple of ``helpers" - young male offspring from previous years. Young females move out into the breeding population where they are accepted into a new breeding clan.
As we continue to lose the old growth forest habitat the red-cockaded woodpeckers expire. They cannot survive anywhere else. |
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