Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 8
Limiting Factors and Threats
Historically, one of the main reasons for the decline of the Red-headed Woodpecker was the loss of vast expanses of mature hardwood forests, such as oak and beech in the central and eastern United States following European settlement (Smith et al. 2000). These forests produced an abundance of acorns and beechnuts, the Red-headed Woodpecker’s main food source in winter.
A more recent and important limiting factor has been the loss of nest sites and roosting cavities as dead elms and chestnut trees were cleared from urban and agricultural areas (Page 1996). The loss of beech forests, which provide a primary food source, to diseases, such as beech bark disease complex, have also contributed significantly to the species’ decline (Houston and O’Brien 1998). It is also worth noting that beech bark disease complex appears to be expanding in Ontario (Canadian Forest Service 2001), which includes a large part of the Red-headed Woodpecker breeding range. These factors together may result in continuing population declines for this species in Canada.
Red-headed Woodpecker declines have also been associated with mortality from collisions with motor vehicles while they forage by roadsides (Smith et al. 2000) and also from pesticide/chemical exposure (Smith et al. 2000). For instance, a Red-headed Woodpecker population on Manitoulin Island disappeared following pesticide use in the mid-20th century (Page 1996). Similarly, high mortality has been reported among hatchlings in nests built in telephone poles that had recently been treated with creosote (Smith et al. 2000).
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