Red-headed Woodpeckers

Photo by Deb Walens

Amboy Marsh volunteers have gone to lots of trouble to remove invasive woody brush in the ICECF grant area. If you have visited the site, you will see that large oak trees remain - including dead oak trees. The majestic trees dot the upland area around and between the wetlands. This is wonderful oak savanna adjacent to wetlands – a diverse habitat.

Peggy Luensmann, with the Fire Effects Information System (USFS and USDA) notes that primary habitats used by red-headed woodpeckers include oak (Quercus spp.) savanna and mature open bottomland forest…and other habitats containing mature open hardwoods with snags or trees with dead limbs. The use of herbaceous habitats or stands with high canopy cover or a dense mid-story is infrequent. During periods of cold and deep snow cover, red-headed woodpeckers may move from the bottomlands to the uplands.

Red-headed woodpeckers show a preference for mature open canopy forests with large trees, a high basal area, and little understory. Woodlots with an abundance of "overmature" trees with dead branches and cavities support red-headed woodpeckers during years of high acorn mast.

We have a goal of enhancing habitat for red-headed woodpeckers at Amboy Marsh Nature Preserve. This striking bird was once common in the oak savannas of the Green River Lowlands, and one reason for their decline is the encroachment of invasive brush such as honeysuckle and buckthorn. In the seven years of restoration at Amboy Marsh, we have documented an increase in red-headed woodpeckers in our newly-opened habitat. This is a short time frame and many other factors may be at work, but we know from research at other sites that clearing invasives is helpful to this species. We welcome the red-heads!