MIKE MILLER

Central Illinois has long been a refuge for healthy populations of Red-headed Woodpeckers. Our plentiful oak woodlands and rich river valleys have long been home to this colorful species. With its bright red hood and black and white body, it really stands out. While this bird has always been present in central Illinois, their numbers have actually been dropping steadily. Thanks to data from bird counts and breeding bird surveys, we realize that central Illinois populations have dropped around 50% over the last 50 years. This trend is better than the decline experienced in other regions, but it does show that this species is having a tough time throughout its historic range, which includes most of the states east of the Rocky Mountains.

Exactly why the Red-headed Woodpecker is in decline is a bit of an unknown. As I have written in this column many times, the reason a species heads towards extinction is usually a combination of several factors. In the case of the Red-headed Woodpecker, we do know some key issues that could be major factors.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are kind of odd for a woodpecker. It is much more omnivorous than other woodpecker species. It will eat fruits, nuts, seeds, wood-boring insects, flying insects, spiders, earthworms, ants, and has even been known to steal eggs and nestlings from other species. This trait would normally be thought of as an advantage for a species. However, this bird needs to be able to eat all of these things in its nesting territory. This puts a real emphasis on the bird to seek out a very diverse habitat that allows it to satisfy its diverse dietary needs. In human terms, they would not be happy living in a town with only one restaurant serving one food. They would want to live in a space with a variety of diverse restaurants. Given that natural areas are often few and far between in the modern world, needing a wide variety of food sources has become a limiting factor.

Bird’s house

Red-headed Woodpeckers also need dead-standing trees to build their homes. They excavate nests in wood that has reached a particular point of decay. Therefore, they are dependent on some tree mortality to provide nesting sites. An upward spike was seen in their populations after Dutch Elm disease caused wide-spread die-off of elms in North America in the 1950s. However, this was short-lived, lasting only a little more than a decade as the dead elms began falling or were removed.

If you are a birder, you know to seek out Red-headed Woodpeckers in open, oak woodlands. This seems to be where they thrive. However, open oak woodlands have been undergoing a gradual change over the last 100 years. They are no longer as open as they once were. Woodlands remain open if they experience periodic wildfires. Without fire, the density of trees increase, and the woodlands become closed in. This makes it difficult for the woodpeckers to catch insects on the wing. If you watch Red-headed Woodpeckers feed on flying insects, you will see them perch on a tree and periodically fly out and catch insects as they fly by. A closed forest makes this more difficult. Especially if that forest has been overtaken by exotic, invasive species of shrub growth, such as Autumn Olive, Bush Honeysuckle, or European Buckthorn.

Devastating effect

Finally, lurking over all of the woes in the population of the Red-headed Woodpecker is the elephant in the room … Climate change. Knowing the complexity of this species’ habitat requirements, how will human-influenced climate change affect its future? Scientists have plugged in bird population data, climate trend models, and projections of how habitats will be altered in a warming world. Unfortunately for the Red heads, the effects will be devastating. Currently, the species can be found throughout the state of Illinois. If the average earth’s temperatures increased by just 1.5 degrees C, portions of southern Illinois will no longer be suitable for the bird. A 2-degree C increase will likely make Peoria on the southern edge of its range. A 3-degree C increase will pretty much eliminate the species from the state of Illinois. As climate change alters the composition of our habitats, we will no longer serve as a refuge for the Red-headed Woodpecker.

For more information, or to see the projections for Red-headed Woodpeckers, visit National Audubon’s Climate study at this link.

So how do we improve the future for the Red-headed Woodpecker? We need to work from a couple of different angles. One is to focus on the habitat. Maintaining open woodlands is crucial. Using prescribed fire and reducing exotic-invasive species is important to maintain the resiliency of our woodlands. In areas where prescribed fire is being used in maintaining oak woodlands and savanna habitats, we see an increase in the population of Red-headed Woodpeckers. The other angle involves taking actions to prevent human-caused climate change. Like it or not, we do have an effect on climate. You might ask, “why should we care about a woodpecker’s chances of survival?” Just remember, we live on the same planet. If changing climate can affect a small bird so drastically, just imagine the impact it will have on humans. I would wager that humans have even more complex and intricate habitat requirements than woodpeckers.