Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts
Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
Abundance: Uncommon (during most seasons) to Very Uncommon or even nearly absent (during seasons of low hard mast production) throughout the Region; possibly more common at all seasons at sites on the Cumberland Plateau than at sites at lower elevations.
Status: Permanent resident; population small, naturally fluctuating to a high degree at the local level (LINK to Regional CBC data), and consequently not easily monitored by the Regional bird-monitoring effort (LINK to Regional Bird Monitoring Plan); photograph (DJ Stanley; May 2008; Cumberland County, Tennessee).
Regional High Count and SBC High Count: 75 (7-8 May 1966; Cumberland County [SBC], Tennessee; m. ob.; note: a two-day survey); CBC High Count: 42 (2 January 1972; Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky; m. ob.); FBC High Count: 21 (20 September 2003; Putnam County, Tennessee; m. ob.).
Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Competition from European Starling for nest sites a factor in breeding success. Dead snags in shrub-scrub fields or early successional forests, as well as in shallow ponds, favored as nesting (and roosting) sites.
Habitat: Oak-hickory forests play in important role in supplying food resources needed by this woodpecker during winter.
YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: 1 registration (of 125) during 2003 and 11 registrations (of 206) during 2004, results that confirm the variability of this species' numbers from year to year in the Region.
Foray Results: Distribution and abundance based on UCR Foray data are mapped as follows:
Remarks: prone to nomadic wandering or migration during seasons of poor mast production.
Counties with Observations (boldfaced):
| Barren | Metcalfe | Adair | Russell | Pulaski |
| Monroe | Cumberland | Clinton | Wayne | McCreary |
| Macon | Clay | Pickett | Fentress | Scott |
| Smith | Jackson | Overton | Putnam | Morgan |
| DeKalb | White | Cumberland | ||
| Warren | Van Buren | Bledsoe |
To see a map (Figure 1) displaying data about this species, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.
Literature Cited
