Do you know Arkansas’s native woodpecker species? Have you seen them? Here’s an introduction to four of them.
The red cockaded woodpecker is the scarcest, because of the destruction of its pine savanna habitats. It has a conservation status of “near threatened.”
The pileated woodpecker is the largest, a strikingly colored black, white, and red bird with a call you won’t forget.
The red-headed woodpecker is also striking, with its solid red head, black body, black and white wings, and white breast.
The northern flicker, with its distinctive black collar and black-spotted breast, is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate, although it lives here in Arkansas year-round.
Take a walk in the woods this month and watch and listen for woodpeckers.