steal from corncribs and from bunches of corn hung up to dry. Various
berries have been recorded in its food, besides those mentioned above,
mulberries, elderberries, bayberries, blueberries, and the berries of
the Virginia creeper, cornel, holly, dogwood, and poison ivy, also
the seeds of ragweed and wild sarsaparilla, hazelnuts, and pecans. N.
M. MCGuire (1932) saw one feeding at the borings of a yellow-bellied
sapsucker on a sugar maple tree, driving the latter away; he “would fly
at the Sapsucker, causing him to dodge around a limb in order to keep
out of the way.”
Dr. B. H. Warren (1890) first called attention to the orange-eating
habit of the red-bellied woodpecker in Florida, where it is called the
“orange sapsucker” or “orange borer.” He found on inquiry that these
birds often destroyed large numbers of oranges when they were ready
for picking and that “they damaged the orange trees by boring holes in
them and sucking the sap.” He collected 26 of these woodpeckers in one
orchard, 11 of which had “fed to a more or less extent on oranges.”
William Brewster (1889) saw a red-bellied woodpecker eating the pulp of
a sweet orange at Enterprise, Fla. He says that it attacked the orange
on the ground, pecking at it in a slow and deliberate way for several
minutes. On examining the orange he found it to be decayed on one
side. “In the sound portion were three holes, each nearly as large as
a silver dollar, with narrow strips of peel between them. The pulp had
been eaten out quite to the middle of the fruit. Small pieces of rind
were thickly strewn about the spot. Upon searching closely I discovered
several other oranges that had been attacked in a similar manner. All
were partially decayed, and were lying on the ground. I was unable to
find any on the trees which showed any marks of the Woodpecker’s bill.”
Certainly the habit of eating fallen and partially decayed oranges
does no injury to the orange groves, but D. Mortimer (1890) tells a
different story:
While gathering fruit or pruning orange trees, I frequently
found oranges that had been riddled by this woodpecker,
and repeatedly saw the bird at work. I never observed
it feeding upon fallen oranges. It helped itself freely
to sound fruit that still hung on the tree, and in some
instances I have found ten or twelve oranges on one trees
that had been tapped by it. Where an orange accidentally
rested on a branch in such a way as to make the flower end
accessible from above or from a horizontal direction the
Woodpecker chose that spot, as through it he could reach
into all the sections of the fruit, and when this was the
case there was but one hole in the orange. But usually
there were many holes around it. It appeared that after
having once commenced on an orange, the woodpecker returned
to the same one repeatedly until he had completely
consumed the pulp, and then he usually attacked another
very near to it. Thus I have found certain clusters in
which every orange had been bored, while all the others on
the tree were untouched.
The red-bellied woodpecker shares with other species, formerly included
in the genus _Melanerpes_, the habit of storing acorns, nuts, insects,
and other articles of food for future use. Ben. J. Blincoe (1923)
writes:
The red-bellied woodpecker is a heavy feeder on beech and
oak mast. In the early fall its incessant “Cha-cha-cha”
was a familiar sound in the beech woods about Cherry
Hill. I never observed it in the act of storing beech
mast though on numerous occasions red-bellied woodpeckers
were seen carrying beechnuts to a considerable distance
from the trees from which they were secured. Very likely
many of these nuts were wedged in cracks or crevices for
future use. However, in the fall of 1913, a red-belly was
seen storing the acorns from a Chinquapin Oak (_Quercus
acuminata_) which stood over the wood-pile at Cherry Hill.
The acorns were carried, one at a time, to fence posts
ranging from twenty-five to three hundred yards distant
from the oak tree, and were generally wedged in a crack in
the post, usually near the top. One acorn was placed in
a cavity caused by decay, and laid loosely on the rotten
wood. As far as my observations went, but one acorn was
placed in a single post
While Mr. Blincoe was shelling walnuts, he saw one of these woodpeckers
carry off the shells, and apparently eat the remaining meat out of
them. Several times he saw one stealing corn from his corncrib or
flying off with cherries from a tree in his garden and sometimes
carrying them to a fence post to eat. Again he watched one eating
a hole in an apple, and “found that the apple on which it had been
working bore a decayed spot near the stem and just at the edge of it,
but entirely in the solid part of the apple, was a hole about half
an inch across, and three-quarters deep. The bottom of this cavity
contained several tiny holes, markings made by the woodpecker’s
mandibles. In the early winter, frequently, a red-belly would be seen
feeding on an apple that remained on the tree, though decayed and
practically dried up.”
Lester W. Smith writes to me that it seems to be a habit of the
red-bellied woodpecker in Florida to store away insects and other
food. “After digging into and capturing an insect, I see it fly to a
small hole, commonly in the trunk of the cabbage palmetto, and place
the insect in it. At a hole 5 feet from the ground I found a male
_carolinus_ inserting the badly mutilated body of a cockroach. A large
portion of his catches or finds he seems to prefer to hide away. A tree
of small, late tangerines was visited almost daily during the latter
half of May, and sections of the pulp, taken from fruit torn open by
the mockingbird, were carried off and hidden in various places. On
June 3 I saw _carolinus_ go to the base of banana leaves, take out a
section of pulp, and fly away with it. Examination showed other pieces
similarly hidden, some with ants on them.”
M. P. Skinner (1928) says: “Although other woodpeckers carry off
and store bits of food, the red-bellied woodpeckers appear to do it
more than any others in the Sandhills. These birds are rather easily
attracted to artificial feeding stations, especially if suet be offered
them. They will eat nuts and bread crumbs, also, but not as greedily.”
_Behavior._--Mr. Skinner (1928) writes: “In flight, these woodpeckers
are apt to progress step by step from tree to tree. In this respect,
and in that it is undulating, their flight is much like that of other
woodpeckers. In approaching a perch, the red-bellied woodpeckers
usually glide and sweep up to it with the impetus already gained. * * *
These woodpeckers work and hammer on the trunks of trees, on the boles
of oaks, on boles high up in live or blasted pines, and on both living
and dead limbs, usually working up, but working down also if they want
to, using a peculiar partly-sidewise drop downward.”
_Voice._--Mr. Simmons (1925) gives the following elaborate
interpretations of the various calls of this noisy bird:
In fall and winter, a soft scolding _chuh_; _chuh-chuh_;
_chow-chow_; _cherr-cherr_; or _chawh-chawh_. At other
seasons, a variety of calls: a slow, harsh _crer-r-r-r-r-r_
_rrrrrr_ or _chur-r-r-r-r_ _rrrrrr_; a noisy _charr-r-r_ or
_chawh-chawh_; a rather slow, regular _chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh_,
sometimes uttered in a series of a dozen or more as rapidly
as the syllables can be plainly pronounced; a very rapid
_chuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a_; a
slow, harsh _sherr_, _cherr_, _cherr_ or _crerr_, _crerr_,
_crerr_, _crerr_, _crerr_; an alarmed _cha-cha-cha_; at
intervals, a loud, bold, running, connected _koo er-r-r-r_;
_qu er-r-r-r-r_; _qui er-r-r-r-r_; or _k-r-r-ring_, uttered
with a distinct rolling of the _r_’s; in the nesting season,
an additional _whicker_.
Bendire (1895) says: “The Red-bellied, like the majority of our
Woodpeckers, is a rather noisy bird. Its ordinary call note resembles
the ‘tchurr, tchurr’ of the red-headed very closely; another sounds
more like ‘chawh, chawh,’ and this is occasionally varied with a
disagreeable creaking note, while during the mating season peculiar,
low, mournful cooing sounds are sometimes uttered, which somewhat
resemble those of the Mourning Dove.”
Various other observers have given somewhat similar descriptions of
some of the above interpretations. When I first saw this woodpecker,
many years ago in Florida, climbing up the trunk of a cabbage palmetto,
its rolling notes sounded to me like those of a tree toad, as heard
before a rain.
_Field marks._--The red-bellied woodpecker is so conspicuously marked
that it could hardly be overlooked. It is a medium-sized woodpecker,
about the size of the hairy; the entire back and rump are conspicuously
barred transversely with black and white; the wings are spotted or
barred with white; the under parts are uniform gray, except for the
inconspicuous reddish tinge on the abdomen; in the male the entire
crown and nape are brilliant scarlet, and a large patch of the same
color adorns the nape of the female.
_Winter._--The migrations of this woodpecker are, apparently, not so
extensive or so regular as those of most migratory birds; they seem
to consist more of irregular wanderings and to depend more on the
abundance of the food supply. The species occurs, in small numbers at
least, more or less irregularly in winter even in the northern portions
of its range. There is, however, usually a general southward movement
in fall, which greatly increases its abundance in the Southern States
in winter. William H. Fisher (1897) says of its winter occurrence in
Maryland: “I have only met with about half a dozen individuals outside
of Somerset County, but there, for the last fourteen years, in either
November, December or January, I have found them to be very abundant.
According to my observations, they prefer the low, swampy woodlands and
clearings, only occasionally being found in the isolated tree in the
field.”
W. E. Saunders tells me that it was formerly quite common in southern
Ontario and came regularly to the feeding stations in winter; evidently
some of these birds did not migrate. On the other hand, Audubon (1842)
says: “In winter I have found the red-bellied woodpecker the most
abundant of all in the pine barrens of the Floridas, and especially
on the plantations bordering the St. John’s river, where on any day
it would have been easy to procure half a hundred.” And C. J. Maynard
(1896) writes: “I found the red-bellied woodpeckers quite abundant
in winter in the piney woods which border the plantations on the Sea
Islands off the Carolinas but as I proceeded south, their numbers
increased and in Florida, they fairly swarmed, actually occurring in
flocks. They accompany the cockaded woodpeckers in the piney woods and
also associate with the yellow-bellies in the swamps and hummocks;
in fact, it is difficult to remain long in any portion of Florida
where there are trees, without hearing the discordant croak of these
woodpeckers and I even found them on the Keys.”
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Chiefly the Eastern United States, casual west to Arizona and
Colorado; nonmigratory.
The range of the red-bellied woodpecker extends =north= to southeastern
Nebraska (Lincoln and Nebraska City); southeastern Minnesota (St.
Peter and Minneapolis); southern Michigan (Grand Rapids, Howell,
and Plymouth); and southern Ontario (Coldstream, Toronto, and Twin
Lakes). =East= to southeastern Ontario (Twin Lakes); western New York
(Canandaigua, Potter, and probably Ithaca); southern Pennsylvania
(Fulton County); eastern Maryland (Marydel and Church Creek); Virginia
(Dismal Swamp); North Carolina (Mattamuskeet Lake and Orton); South
Carolina (Columbia and Frogmore); Georgia (Savannah, Cumberland Island,
and Blackbeard Island); and Florida (New Smyrna, Eldred, Cape Florida,
and Upper Matecumbe Key). The =southern= limits extend westward along
the Gulf coast to eastern Texas (Giddings and Austin). =West= to
eastern Texas (Austin, Cameron, and Waco); Oklahoma (Caddo, Norman,
and Arnett); eastern Kansas (Harper, Wichita, and Manhattan); and
southeastern Nebraska (Lincoln).
Although not a migratory species, there appears to be some retreat from
the northern parts of the range, particularly during severe winters.
_Casual records._--Red-bellied woodpeckers have been taken or observed
on numerous occasions in New Jersey and eastern New York (including
Long Island). The northernmost records on the Atlantic seaboard are
several from Massachusetts, among which are the following: Springfield,
May 13, 1863; Newton, November 25, 1880; Cohasset, May 28, 1881; and
Clinton, July 17, 1896. One was noted at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan,
on August 29, 1920; two were reported from Yankton, S. Dak., on April
14, 1923; one was seen in Monroe Canyon, Sioux County, northwestern
Nebraska (date?); in Colorado, a specimen was taken at Fountain in 1873
and another at Limon in May 1899, while one was seen at Greeley in 1895
and another at Yuma on October 1, 2, and 3, 1906. According to Ridgway
(1914), the species is “accidental in Arizona (Fort Grant),” but no
information is available to indicate the authority for this statement.
_Egg dates._--Alabama: 9 records, April 17 to July 11.
Florida: 20 records, April 10 to June 20; 10 records, April 16 to
May 13, indicating the height of the season.
Illinois: 8 records, April 1 to June 3.
Texas: 8 records, April 8 to July 9.
CENTURUS AURIFRONS (Wagler)
GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER
HABITS
The golden-fronted woodpecker is found, in suitable localities, from
central Texas southward to the Valley of Mexico. It is not, however,
evenly distributed, being common in certain regions that suit its
requirements and entirely absent from other types of surrounding
country. For example, E. M. Hasbrouck (1889) says: “In the single
locality in Eastland County where they are found, they may be said to
be fairly common, but outside of an area of twenty-five square miles
they are unknown in the County. * * * This section of country presents
peculiar characteristics; the timber is entirely of post-oak, and the
ground more or less thickly covered with ‘shinnery,’ and differs from
the surrounding country in that the tops of the trees were affected
some years ago with a blight, and now this entire area is one mass
of dead-topped trees, and this is what apparently suits the present
species.”
George F. Simmons (1925) says of its haunts in the Austin region:
“Mesquite forests with large trees, and mesquite flats; partial to
large timber near mesquite growth, particularly among post oak and
mixed oaks on gravel uplands, and in pecan groves on open and semi-open
bottoms.”
D. B. Burrows (Bendire, 1895) says that, in Starr County, on the lower
Rio Grande, “the golden-fronted woodpecker is a common resident species
in this locality, and much more abundant than Baird’s woodpecker, the
only other variety that I have found here. They may be found wherever
there is a growth of trees sufficiently large to afford nesting places,
but are most numerous in the river bottoms where there is a heavy
growth of old mesquite timber.”
_Nesting._--Major Bendire (1895) writes: “Nidification commences
sometimes in the latter part of March, but usually not much before the
middle of April; both sexes assist in this labor, and it takes from
six to ten days to excavate a proper nesting site; both live and dead
trees are used for this purpose, as well as telegraph poles and fence
posts; the holes are rarely over 12 inches deep, and are situated at
no great distances from the ground, mostly from 6 to 25 feet up.”
As to its nesting in Starr County, he quotes from Mr. Burrows: “The
nest is by preference made in the live trunks of large trees, usually
the mesquite, but sometimes in a dead stump or limb, the same cavity
being used year after year, and it is quite a rare thing to see a
fresh excavation. The nesting season begins in April, and most of the
nests contain fresh eggs by May 10. I took a set of six eggs from a
cavity in a live mesquite tree, the opening being but 2 feet 9 inches
from the ground, but usually they are placed from 8 to 20 feet up.”
And H. P. Attwater wrote to him that “near San Antonio, Texas, where
the golden-fronted woodpecker is a common resident, it nests in all
kinds of tall live timber, pecan, oak, and large mesquite trees being
preferred, but telegraph poles furnished favorite sites here also.
A line running out of San Antonio to a ranch nine miles distant was
almost destroyed by these birds; they came from all sides, from far and
near, and made fresh holes every year, sometimes as many as five or six
in a single pole. Here it also nests occasionally in artificial nesting
sites, like bird boxes, etc., in yards and gardens.”
My only experience with the nesting habits of this woodpecker was in
Cameron County, Tex., where we found this noisy and conspicuous bird
quite common in the trees about the ranches. On May 24, 1923, we found
two nests quite near the buildings on a well-kept Mexican ranch and
collected two sets of four fresh eggs; one was about 8 feet up in an
anaqua tree and the other about 12 feet from the ground in a willow.
_Eggs._--The golden-fronted woodpecker lays four to seven eggs to a
set, usually four or five. The eggs are pure white and vary from ovate
to short or rounded-ovate, with very little or no gloss when fresh.
The measurements of 59 eggs average 25.82 by 19.50 millimeters; the
eggs showing the four extremes measure =28.45= by 20.07, 27.94 by
=20.83=, =22.86= by 17.78, and 25.91 by =18.03= millimeters.
_Young._--Major Bendire (1895) says: “Incubation lasts about fourteen
days, and both sexes share this duty. * * * It is probable that two
broods are occasionally raised in a season, as there are sets of eggs
in the collection taken in June, and two of these in the latter part
of this month.” But Mr. Simmons (1925) says “probably only one brood.”
Both parents assist in the care of the young. In summer and fall the
young may be seen traveling about with their parents in family parties,
but they separate before winter.
_Plumages._--Probably the young are hatched naked and blind, as with
other woodpeckers, and the juvenal plumage is acquired before the young
bird leaves the nest. The young male, in juvenal plumage, is similar to
the adult male but is everywhere duller, with the markings less clearly
defined; the red crown patch is smaller and consists of somewhat
scattered red feathers; there is usually more or less indistinct dusky
barring on the forehead, which is duller yellow than in the adult; the
yellow of the hind neck is paler and duller; the chest is usually more
or less streaked with dusky, and the yellow on the abdomen is paler.
The young female is similar to the young male but without any red on
the head, the yellow band on the hind neck paler, and the under parts
all paler. This juvenal plumage is apparently worn all through fall
and early winter; I have seen it as late as January 5; but probably a
protracted molt during fall and winter produces a gradual change into a
plumage that is practically adult. Adults have a complete postnuptial
molt late in summer and fall, mainly in August and September, according
to what few molting specimens I have seen.
_Food._--Bendire (1895) says: “Their food consists of insects of
various kinds, such as beetles, ants, grasshoppers, also larvae,
acorns, Indian corn, and different kinds of wild berries and fruit.
Considered from an economic point of view, this woodpecker certainly
does more good than harm, and the only thing that can be said against
it is that in certain localities where it is common it may make itself
more or less of a nuisance by injuring telegraph poles.” In this
connection, George B. Sennett (1879) makes the following interesting
remark: “The numerous holes which I observed the previous season in the
telegraph poles, and which I inferred might be nests of Woodpeckers, I
found to be excavations made by the birds in search of a large species
of borer that works in the dry wood.”
Roy W. Quillin writes to me that “this species has an odd habit of
placing shelled mesquite beans in the nesting holes. I have not yet
found any reason for this which seemed plausible.”
_Behavior._--In general habits and behavior, the golden-fronted
woodpecker is much like the red-bellied woodpecker, to which it
is closely related; and it reminded me also of our more familiar
red-headed woodpecker. It is a lively, active, noisy bird, being much
in evidence wherever it is found. It loves to perch for many minutes in
the dead top of some tall tree or on some telegraph or telephone pole,
where it can obtain a good outlook. Mr. Burrows (Bendire, 1895) says:
“During the fall and winter they may be found traveling about from
place to place in pairs, and are easily located by the call note, which
somewhat resembles that of the red-bellied woodpecker, the habits of
the two birds being in many respects quite similar. In the spring, when
nesting, they become very noisy, and when approached, utter their alarm
note with great vigor. I have never known this species to drum on a
dead limb, as most of the other woodpeckers do. When searching for food
they may be seen very diligently at work near the base of old trees,
among the thick bushes, or even on the ground.”
_Voice._--Mr. Simmons (1925) says that this bird is “extremely
noisy,” and describes its notes as “a harsh, rapid, scolding
_chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh_; a metallic _whah-whah_; a loud,
long-drawn _sk-k-k-k-ah-er-r-r-r_ or _tcher-r-r-r_, _tcher-r-r-r_; a
short _check_, _check-check_. Both this species and the red-bellied
woodpecker have the same _chow_, _chow_, _chow_, _chow_ call; however,
there is a striking difference in the tone; the call of the Red-bellied
Woodpecker may be imitated by completely filling the mouth with air and
keeping the lips pushed well forward, while that of the golden-fronted
woodpecker--_choogh-choogh_--is best given by pulling the lips back
tightly, tautening the vocal cords, and making a hoarse, croupy noise
in the throat, since the bird at times sounds as if it had a bad cold.”
Mr. Hasbrouck (1889) writes: “Their note is peculiar, combining the
‘chirp, chirp’ of _carolinus_ with a certain shrillness and accent of
their own, while the call note, either flying or at rest, is similar
to that of _M. erythrocephalus_ and at the same time not unlike that
of _Colaptes auratus_. While their notes once learned are readily
recognized, still it takes not a little practice to distinguish between
a red-head in one tree and the gold-front in the next, or between a
gold-front and a flicker when both are on the opposite side of a ravine
and hidden from view; and I have more than once shot _carolinus_ even
when morally certain it was what I wanted.”
_Field marks._--The golden-fronted woodpecker might easily be confused
with the red-bellied woodpecker, for they are often found in the same
general region, and both have the back and wings barred with black and
white; but all the lower part of the rump is white, instead of barred,
in the golden-fronted and the gray under parts are tinged with yellow,
instead of red; the male red-bellied has the whole upper part of the
head, from forehead to hind neck, bright scarlet, and the female has an
extensive patch of red on the posterior half of the upper head; whereas
the male golden-fronted has a much smaller patch of red on the crown,
a yellow forehead, and an orange-yellow band on the hind neck; and the
female golden-fronted has no red on the head at all. The voice is said
to be more distinctive than the color pattern.