Red-headed Woodpecker
Common
Name: Red-headed
Woodpecker (RHWO)
Scientific
Name:
Melanerpes
erythrocephalus
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: IUCN
2004 Red List – NT (Near Threatened)
National-level
Conservation Status:
Canada
- Species at Risk Act (SARA) – Species of Concern;
U.S.
– Bird of Conservation Concern
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 518 (Smith et al. 2000)
Distribution:
Breeds from s Saskatchewan (locally), s Manitoba, w and s Ontario,
sw Quebec (rarely), New England (rarely), and s New Brunswick (formerly)
south to c Texas, the Gulf coast, and Florida (except the southernmost
portion), extending west to c Montana, e Wyoming, e Colorado, and c New
Mexico. Occurs in summer (and
probably breeds) in s
Alberta
. Winters regularly through
the southern two-thirds of the breeding range, rarely or casually north to
the limits of the breeding range (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Open woodland (especially with beech or oak), open situations with
scattered tall trees, open pine woods, parks, and suburbs (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs (Number in ( ) is Physiographic Area number):
Osage Plains Bird Conservation Plan (33); Mid Atlantic Piedmont
Bird Conservation Plan (10); Lower Great Lakes Plain Bird Conservation
Plan (15); Northern Ridge & Valley Bird Conservation Plan (17); Upper
Great Lakes Plain Bird Conservation Plan (16); Allegheny Plateau Bird
Conservation Plan (24); Ohio Hills Bird Conservation Plan (22), Montana
Bird Conservatioin Plan; New Mexico Bird Conservation Plan; Texas Avian
Research Projects –TARP (Texas Partners in Flight 2001); BNA No. 518
(Smith et al. 2000); Canadian Action Plans (Dunn 2002); PIF Monitoring
Needs document (Partners in Flight Science Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: ** (Long-term population
trend monitoring considered adequate, but some issues (e.g., bias) may not
be accounted for)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – NOTE: Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) provides
acceptable data at the continental level (PIF Monitoring Needs doc)
- Supplemental
RHWO Surveys
- Conduct count-based surveys of priority species (including RHWO) in
riparian deciduous forests (Montana); In provinces where BBS detection
of RHWO is too low for analysis, undertake periodic surveys to
determine status (Canadian Action Plan); Determine current
distribution, abundance, and status of a number of breeding
mid-elevation riparian species of conservation concern, including RHWO
(TARP - Chihuahuan Desert & Mexican Mts)
- Determine
how to assess long-term "health" of an erratic species like
RHWO (BNA)
- Determine
the limiting factors and causes of population declines of RHWO (
New Mexico
; BNA; Allegheny Plateau)
- Refine
estimate of largest population of RHWO in
Manitoba
(Canadian Action Plan)
- Conduct
population ecology studies of RHWO (Lower Great Lakes Plain, Northern
Ridge & Valley)
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- Habitat
needs
– Describe dynamic relationship between RHWO populations and
mast-producing trees (BNA); better quantification of bird-habitat
relationships and factors affecting reproductive success (Osage
Plains); refine knowledge of habitat requirements (Mid Atlantic
Piedmont); determine habitat associations, densities, and reproductive
success of savanna bird communities including RHWO (Upper Great Lakes
Plain)
- Determine
relative importance & use of other habitat types during
post-fledging period (
Allegheny Plateau
,
Ohio
Hills)
- Information
on breeding rates and nest success, growth and development of young
(BNA)
- Determine
the social systems of RHWO, including studies of overlapping
territories, multiple adults at the nest, and family groups (BNA)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Silvicultural
Practices
- Effects of various logging practices on occurrence, breeding
density, & nesting success of RHWO (Lower Great Lakes Plain,
Northern Ridge & Valley, Allegheny Plateau, Ohio Hills); better
understanding of role of stand age & stand structure on habitat
quality, reproductive success, & survival in RHWO (Allegheny
Plateau, Ohio Hills)
- Effects
of changes in land use patterns, removal of dead trees & branches
in urban areas (BNA)
Landscape
- Identify
large forest blocks & landscapes w/ high % forest cover (Mid
Atlantic Piedmont)
- Monitor
reproductive success at different locations to understand whether
fragmentation causes problems for RHWO (Lower Great Lakes Plain,
Northern Ridge & Valley,
Allegheny Plateau
,
Ohio
Hills)
- Landscape-level
effects
- Better understanding of landscape-level effects of land use
practices on forest bird populations including RHWO (Ohio Hills);
determine the importance of landscape context in savanna restoration
and effects on community structure and population viability (Upper
Great Lakes Plain)
Species
Interactions
- Importance
of RHWO cavities to bats, flying squirrels, tree frogs, arboreal mice,
& secondary cavity-nesting birds (BNA)
Predation
- Impacts
of predation on RHWO reproductive success (BNA)
Migration
- Determine
how bird species including RHWO use savanna-woodland habitats during
migration (Upper Great Lakes Plain)
Invasives/Exotics/Disease/Parasites/Contaminants
- Assess
RHWO sensitivity to pesticides used on gypsy moths and other insect
pests (Lower Great Lakes Plain, Northern Ridge & Valley, Allegheny
Plateau)
Demographics
- Survival
and dispersal of juvenile RHWO (BNA)
- Studies
of RHWO demographics (Mid Atlantic Piedmont)
- see
needs under "Habitat Needs/Ecology" and
"Landscape"
Habitat
Restoration
- see
needs under "Landscape"
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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