NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1264601
July 2020 • Nebraskaland 45 Those Fiery Redheads B e a u t y o r b e a s t , t h i s w o o d p e c ke r h a s a n e y e - c a t c h i n g a p p e a r a n c e erial proficiency to swoop and snatch prey from the sky. Symmetrically arranged talons for clinging to vertical surfaces and a chiseled beak that hammers hardwood surfaces at 1,000 times the force of gravity. A long barbed tongue, three times as long as that self-sharpening dagger-like bill, for retrieving victims from deep within a crevice. All that, and a fiery red head. If readers were to consider that description alone, they might assume it applies to a mythical monster dreamed up by a Hollywood scriptwriter. Instead, it is an illustration of the red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), the handsome bird affectionately referred to as the "flying checkerboard" that can be found throughout Nebraska. With its stunning red, white and black appearance, the red-headed woodpecker has aptly assumed the role of a "spark bird" for many birdwatchers. That is, a species that sparks a person's interest in nature. After all, the bird has a range throughout the continental United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and the bright plumage on its 9-inch body can often draw attention from vehicles as it clings to the sides of power poles and fence posts. Similar to all woodpeckers, redheads are attracted to "snags," the dead still-standing trees that not only provide potential for digging a nesting cavity, but also house nutritious insects on and beneath the wood's surface and provide perches. With fossils of the red-headed woodpecker dating back 2 million years, the species has survived many challenges. The overall population of red-headed woodpeckers has sharply declined in recent years because of habitat loss and changes to the birds' food supply, however. A number of human-related actions have been harmful to populations, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports the species has faced a cumulative decline of 70 percent since 1966. It has occasionally been placed on conservation watch lists and given "near threatened" status. Regardless, unlike many other regions of North America, data shows the species is doing well in Nebraska, especially the western part of the state. In nature's kingdom, one species' struggle can serve as another one's boon. Maladies that kill off trees, such as Dutch elm disease and chestnut blight, have helped woodpecker populations thrive in those areas. After large catastrophic wildfires in the Pine Ridge of northwestern Nebraska, the most recent of which was 2012, red- headed woodpeckers have become a familiar sight among the blackened snags that A STORY AND PHOTOS BY JUSTIN HAAG A red-headed woodpecker brings a dose of color to a burned stand of ponderosa pine trees in northwestern Nebraska.