Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)

Red-bellied Woodpecker [ventro-lateral view of adult male]: Photograph Credit: Stephen J. Stedman; Lakeland Drive, Putnam County, Tennessee; 9 May 2018.

 

Abundance: Common during all seasons; records in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts reveal a stable, or possibly increasing, trend in the population residing in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Permanent Resident; specimen (10 June 1938; Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky; W. M. Perrygo; Wetmore 1940); photograph (lateral view of female] (Stephen J. Stedman; City Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee; 26 February 2012); photograph [dorsal view of male] (Stephen J. Stedman; City Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee; 26 February 2012).

Regional High Count and FBC/FBB High Count: 154 (4 October 2008, White County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.); CBC/CBB High Count: 126 (18 December 2010; Putnam County, Tennessee [Cookeville CBC]; m. ob.); SBC/SBB High Count: 122 (10 May 2008; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). 

Habitat: woodlands, especially those with a large component of oaks and hickories, the mast from which is an important food resource that sustains this woodpecker through the winter months. In years of low mast production, a part of local populations may abandon some breeding habitat in the Region in search of more mast-rich sites (see results of WRS in Putnam County during 1991 [link in Remarksbelow]).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 103 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 197 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to YardWatch frequency classifications of Common during each year, results that are in reasonable agreement with the overall Regional abundance classification of this woodpecker.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

County Dates when Foray Conducted Total Blocks
in County *
Total Blocks in which
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Recorded
Total Individuals
Recorded
         
Adair 816 June 2014 46 31 74
Barren 1–6 June 2013 54 51 138
Clinton 12–14 June 2009 24 21 49
Cumberland 1620 June 2014 35 25 45
McCreary 30 May5 Jun 2011 51 40 110
Metcalfe 812 June 2013 32 27 64
Monroe 1–12 June 2015 35 33 92
Pulaski 511 June 2010 72 69 230
Russell 1316, 2629 June 2012 31 24 51
Wayne 28 May3 June 2012 54 44 114
         
Kentucky   434 (408) 365 (84.1%) 967
         
Bledsoe 1824 June 2012 48 39 90
Clay 12–15 June 2010 30 27 77
Cumberland 29 May4 June 2010 75 68 264
DeKalb 2326 May 2008 40 37 127
Fentress 1117 June 2012 55 35 85
Jackson 29 May1 Jun 2009 40 35 96
Macon 1722 June 2013 32 26 52
Morgan 1–8 June 2014 58 42 105
Overton 2329 May 2011 47 43 187
Pickett 2225 May 2009 24 19 58
Putnam 6–12 June 2011 46 43 184
Scott 924 June 2016 62 36 84
Smith 1525 June 2015 37 26 50
Van Buren 13–15 June 2011 33 24 81
Warren 1–10 June 2016 47 45 121
White 1–6 June 2015 50 38 132
         
Tennessee   724 (651) 583 (80.5%) 1793
         
Region   1158 (c. 1059) 948 (81.9%) 2760

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

RemarksThe most abundant of the Regional woodpeckers, the Red-belly must be considered common, but results from the Regional foray effort show it to be fairly thinly distributed.

    Curiously, Red-belly abundance increased steadily on Winter Roadside Surveys (WRS) in Putnam County 1991–2011 but not on Summer Roadside Surveys (SRS) in the same county 1991–2006 (LINK to WRS; LINK to SRS).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Barren Metcalfe Adair Russell Pulaski
Monroe Cumberland Clinton Wayne McCreary
Macon Clay Pickett Fentress Scott
Smith Jackson Overton Putnam Morgan
DeKalb White Cumberland
Warren Van Buren Bledsoe

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Burgess Falls SP, Putnam/White Counties, TN Barren River Lake SP, Barren County, KY
Cumberland Mountain SP, Cumberland County, TN General Burnside Island SP, Pulaski County, KY
Edgar Evins SP, DeKalb County, TN  
Fall Creek Falls SP, Bledsoe/Van Buren Counties, TN Pulaski County Park, Pulaski County, KY
Frozen Head SNA, Morgan County, TN Waitsboro Recreation Area, Pulaski County, KY
Rock Island SP, Warren/White Counties, TN  
Standing Stone SP, Overton County, TN Big South Fork NRRA, KY and TN
   
Cane Creek Park, Putnam County, TN  
Roaring River Recreation Area, Jackson County, TN  

Literature Cited