Hairy Woodpecker            &           Downy Woodpecker

Red Cockaded Woodpecker
They look almost identical, black and white coloring, light spots on dark wings, a fleck of red feathers on the head., They live in Southeast, eat bugs and , of course, peck trees.  One however, is a federally protected endangered species: the red cockaded woodpecker, among the rarest birds in Virginia.  The others, the downy and hairy woodpeckers, are commonly seen dancing about local woods and back yards.  Not surprisingly, the birds are often mistaken for each other.

After the news story this month about volunteers counting red cockaded woodpeckers in the only known nesting colony in Virginia, the Piney Grove Preserve in Sussex County, concerned and intrigued bird lovers flooded The Virginian Pilot with calls that the species was in their yards and neighborhoods, too.  More than 50 callers and emailings, from the Eastern Shore to Portsmouth to Suffolk to Isle of Wight County, wondered what they should do next, given how this endangered bird was hanging around so nonchalantly when scientist are worried about its possible extinction.  RELAX, experts say.  While some of the sightings might be a stray or two, young females are known to flee their nests in early spring, scientists say most probably are not.  "Ninety nine percent of the time, its a misidentification," said Bryan D. Watts, a bird biologist and director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary.

Over the years, watts has received dozens of tips from birders and curious residents.  He could recall only two panning out, one on the Rapppahannock River about two years ago, the other in York County in the Mid 1980's.  "The chances of them being there are so slight," Watts said, "mostly because of the birds unique requirements."  The red cockaded woodpecker lives in pine trees at least 60 years old.  The trees must be still be alive and infected with a fungus that softens the wood to drill inside for a nest.  But after hundreds of years of timbering, land clearing and development, such trees are about as rare in the Southeast as the woodpecker.

In 1990, the region boasted about 50 million acres of such piney forests.  Today, about 1 percent remains, mostly in disconnected patches that make it difficult to support are colonies of birds, Watts said.

Downy and hairy woodpeckers nest in dead tree limbs, pine or hardwood. They also can feed in close quarters, even urban parks.  A pair of red cockaded woodpeckers, however, need about 200 acres of pine forest to forage.

"They're just running out of habitat.  Its about that simple,"  Said Brain van Eerden, regional ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, an environmental group that owns Piney Grove Preserve, just outside of Wakefeild.

Of an estimated state population of 20 birds, 14 live at Piney Grove.  The conservancy bought the 1,500 acre woodpecker preserve in 1998 from a timber conglomerate for $2.2 million. It has a contract to buy an adjoining 1,100 acres, also planned for woodpeckers.. In the 1980's, a nest was active near the Pungo Ferry Bridge in Virginia Beach. So Van Eerden did not rue out that a few birds reported recently along the North Landing River might be descendants of that breeding pair, which disappeared at least a decade ago.

He also noted that red cockaded woodpeckers had been confirmed near Manteo and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, just west of the Outer Banks.  a few strays from nests there also may have flown to southern Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, van Eerden speculated.
The species differs from its look alike cousins in several subtle ways.  Most obvious is an all while cheek patch, downy and hairy woodpeckers have a black streak through their white patches.

Its back "looks like a zebra pattern," van Eerden said, while the downy has a long white stripe extending down its back.

Despite its name, coined in 1810 by naturalist Alexander Wilson, the red cockaded woodpecker does now show any red coloring when viewed in the wild.  Only up close, in human hands, can its red feathering be seen just behind the eye, Said Watts.

Both downy and hairy woodpeckers have red facial markings. Confusing however, in that female downy do not show this coloring.  So avid naturalists who think they are seeing a red cockaded woodpecker are most likely looking at a female downy. Watts aid.  The hairy is the largest of the three, standing an average of 91/2 inches tall.   The downy is the smallest, 61/2 inches. The red cockaded is 81/2 inches tall on average.

Another design of the red cockaded woodpecker is its glistening nest.  The bird strategically pecks holes just below its home so sap is released. The sticky sap flows down the tree like syrup, warding off snakes and other predators that might otherwise raid the nest and gobble eggs.  "The tree looks like birthday candles, mostly while, sitting there in a stand of pine trees," van Eerden said.