Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The red-cockaded woodpecker is an endangered species found in the East Texas Piney Woods region.

Ricky Maxey, a wildlife diversity biologist for TPWD, says the red-cockaded woodpecker is unique because it’s the only woodpecker that makes its home in live pine trees.

It is a keystone representative of the upland pine savannah, so it’s a really fascinating specialized bird.

Because of demands for timber and an increasing urban landscape, there are fewer mature pine savannah forests. And it’s because the woodpeckers are so specialized that they can’t adapt to the changing habitat.

It does not adapt to loss of its habitat because it occupies a very specialized niche. That’s one of the primary reasons why this bird became rare to the point that it had to be listed under the endangered species act.

Maxey says, right now, the woodpeckers have a stable population thanks to forest conservation efforts by TPWD and the U.S. and Texas Forest Services among others. But even private landowners can do their part by creating suitable habitat for the woodpeckers.

If you’re a landowner, you can produce habitat for this species. We’ll be glad to work with any landowner to provide management recommendations to do just that.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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