May 20, 2008
Red-headed woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus
by Rebecca Thompson,
growing students and science program
coordinator
While the red-headed woodpecker is not
one of the most common birds at The Holden Arboretum, it
is one of the most noteworthy.
According to the Audubon Ohio Watch List 2007, “Once
abundant in
Ohio’s oak-hickory forests and
woodlots, this species has declined 78 percent to an
estimated population of 35,000 birds. Competition for
nest-cavities with non-native invasive species, and
habitat loss due to urbanization and changing
agricultural practices may have contributed towards the
species’ decline.” Audubon’s Important Bird Area program
is a vital tool for the conservation of red-headed
woodpeckers as well as other species. As a dedicated
Important Bird Area, Holden provides perfect habitat for
this bird species.
Its striking red hood, and black and
white back stands out against the deciduous woodlands.
It especially likes to establish nesting sites in beech,
oak or river bottom forests; groves of dead and dying
trees; orchards; parks; open country with scattered
trees; forest edges; and open wooded swamps with dead
trees and stumps. The red-headed woodpecker eats seeds,
nuts, fruit, insects, bird eggs and nestlings. This
species is the most adapted of all the woodpeckers for
catching insects while in flight.
It perches on a limb and waits until
it sees an insect then flies out to catch it in mid-air.
Red-headed woodpeckers also forage on the ground and
glean food from vegetation.
While rare in Northeastern Ohio during
the winter, the red-headed woodpecker can be found in
Southern Ohio, storing acorns and nuts in natural
crevices and cavities of trees and posts, and under
bark, railroad ties and shingles. One of the most
interesting foods the red-headed woodpecker has been
known to store are live grasshoppers. They can wedge
grasshoppers so tightly into a tree crevice that it
can’t move. It is also the only woodpecker known to
cover stored food with wet bark or wood.
If you happen to see the red-headed
woodpecker while strolling through the Helen S. Layer
Rhododendron Garden consider yourself lucky to see this
beautiful must see bird.
Want to help the red-headed woodpecker
and other cavity nesters? Consider leaving dead and
dying trees on your property for food storage and
nesting sites.
For more information about the status
of the red-headed woodpecker and other birds go to
audubonohio.org/bsc/SOTB.html.
Bird Facts:
Description:
Bright red head and neck; white breast, belly and rump;
and black back and tail. Black wings with prominent
white inner flight feathers, visible in flight and at
rest. Both sexes look alike.
Range:
Breeds from southern Canada to Gulf Coast, east of the
Rocky Mountains and west of New England and eastern
Canada. Winters: southern part of breeding range and
farther southwest in Texas.
Size:
7-9”
Voice:
“kweer, kweer, kweer”
Best location to view at
Holden: Edges of the
Helen S. Layer Rhododendron Garden
May 9, 2008
Cerulean warbler
Dendroica cerulean
by Rebecca Thompson, growing
students and science program coordinator
The cerulean warbler gets its name from
the vivid blue coloration of the male
warbler’s back and cheeks. Despite is azure
color, which makes it easy to identify
compared to other wood warblers, it is one
of the most difficult warblers to view
during breading season. Ceruleans spend most
of their time in the tree canopy of
contiguous tracts of deciduous forest. While
they are in the tree tops they typically eat
by quickly picking off insects including
bees, wasps, caterpillars, moths
and weevils.
Bottomland forests, and low-elevation
woodlands along rivers and lakes have been
thought to be the preferred habitat of this
bird but according to the Cornel Lab of
Ornithology ceruleans have also been
observed nesting in upland forest habitats.
In the spring males make their way up from
South America before the females, seeking
out the desired habitat. Females follow a
short time after, searching out singing
males whom have already established
territory. When a female finds her mate, it
has been observed that male will softly sing
to the female coercing her to build her nest
in a proper location.
Once a location is set a female
constructs a shallow nest of fine grasses,
plants, bark strips, mosses and lichens. The
nest is lined on the outside with spider
webs and constructed 20-60 feet above the
ground on the end of a horizontal limb.
Females incubate three to five brown
spotted, gray to creamy eggs for up to 13
days before they hatch. While nesting the
female may exit her canopy nest by
“bungee-jumping” from the nest. She will
free fall from the nest for a short distance
only to open her wings and fly when she is
well below the nest. This behavior of
falling like a leaf may detract animals from
praying on the nest. Both males and females
care for the young.
Besides spending most of it time at the
tops of trees moving fast gleaning insects.
Ceruleans warblers are hard to see because
of their severe declined as a species.
Overall “ceruleans have shown one of the
steepest declines of any warbler species,
showing a decline of 4.5 percent per year
from 1966-2001,” according to the North
American Breeding Bird Survey. In Ohio, this
bird has declined by 80 percent over the
last 40 years to an estimated population
level of 70,000 individuals. Destruction of
large tracts of forested land and land-uses
changes has been the major downfalls of this
species. Breeding forest where much of the
original bio diversity has been lost and
remaining forests fragmented and isolated
are part of the problem. Forest land in
South America destroyed for the production
of sun grown coffee beans obliterate the
wintering grounds of the cerulean and many
other species of Ohio’s migrating birds.
Want to help the cerulean warbler?
Support local environmental organizations
that protect large tracks of forested land.
Buy shade grown coffee beans in local
grocery stores. For more information about
the status of the cerulean warbler and other
birds go to
web1.audubon.org/science/species/watchlist/browseWatchlist.php
Bird Facts:
Male: blue and black
upper parts, white throat, wingbars; black
necklace and black streaking on sides
Female: light blue-green
upper parts; light yellow streak above the
eye, throat, breast; white wingbars and
faint streaking on sides
Range: Breeds from
central Minnesota to central New York,
southward to Arkansas and western North
Carolina. Winters in
mountains of northern South America.
Size: 4-5 inches
Voice: Buzzy notes ending in a higher
pitched trill, “zee zee zee zizizizi eee.”
Best location to view at Holden:
South Stebbins (permit access only,
available at the Corning Visitor Center.)
