In late September 2006, a team of ornithologists from Auburn University and the University of Windsor published reports of their own sightings of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers along the Choctawhatchee River in northwest Florida, beginning in 2005 ( Hill et al., 2006 ).

Woodpeckers and sapsuckers can feed on the larva from their cases.

Woodpeckers also use their beaks to create larger holes for their nests which are 15 – 45 cm ( 6 – 18 inches ) below the opening.

Woodpeckers and piculets will excavate their own nests, but wrynecks will not.

Woodpeckers may aggressively harass potential competitors, and also use other strategies to reduce the chance of being usurped from their nesting site ; for example the Red-crowned Woodpecker digs its nest in the underside of a small branch, which reduces the chance that a larger species will take it over and expand it.

Two species found in the Old World, the White-bellied and Black Woodpeckers are closely related and occupy the same ecological niche in their respective ranges that the Pileated occupies in North America.

Pileated Woodpeckers raise their young every year in a hole in a tree.

Due to the considerable damage that Pileated Woodpeckers can do to trees, some people may consider them harmful if found on their property, but the large birds control many insect populations, especially tree beetles, that may otherwise experience outbreaks.

Despite their close resemblance, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are not very closely related, and they are likely to be separated in different genera ; the outward similarity is a spectacular example of convergent evolution.

Woodpeckers tighten their nictitating membrane a millisecond prior to their beak impacting the trunk of a tree to prevent shaking-induced retinal injury.

In mature Longleaf Pine forest, it helps maintain habitat for endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in their sandhill and flatwoods habitats.

Woodpeckers use their chisel-like bills to excavate their cavity nests, a process which takes, on average, about two weeks.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Ralph R. Reiland wrote an essay called Shoot, Shovel & Shut Up, describing landowners ' reactions to finding Red-cockaded Woodpeckers on their property.

A quiet and shy bird, Strickland's Woodpeckers are fairly common in their limited range, usually found in pine forests and mixed pine-oak slopes at heights of about 4, 500 to 7, 000 feet.

Strickland's Woodpeckers usually have three white bars on their wings, and have two white stripes across their face which join with another white bar on their neck.

Male Strickland's Woodpeckers also have a red patch on the nape of their head which is lacking on females.

Arizona Woodpeckers usually have white bars on their wings, and have two white stripes across their face which join with another white bar on their neck.

Pileated Woodpeckers have been observed to move to another site if any eggs have fallen out of the nest — a rare habit in birds.

Doubt was also cast on some of the auditory evidence ( ARU recordings of double-raps ) for the presence of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Arkansas and Florida.

Populations of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are mostly resident, but can be nomadic to some degree.

In addition to the ape-language experiments mentioned above, there have also been more or less successful attempts to teach language or language-like behavior to some non-primate species, including parrots and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

( 1950 ): On the taxonomy of some Asiatic Pygmy Woodpeckers.

“ We will continue to accept and investigate credible reports of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, and to promote protection and restoration of the old growth conditions upon which this magnificent species depended across the entire southeastern United States .”

The first of these species has only an angular cheek spot instead of the zigzag stripe, while the White-backed and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers lack the white shoulder patch and have a less well-developed zigzag stripe, as described above.

Adult Downy Woodpeckers are the smallest of North America's woodpeckers but there are many smaller species elsewhere, especially the piculets.

Unlike all other woodpeckers except the related American and Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers, this species has three-toed feet.

Acorn Woodpeckers like many other species are threatened by habitat loss and degradation.

Imperial Woodpeckers were stunning birds and as the species became rare many were apparently shot by people who had never encountered such a bird and wanted to get a closer look ( Lammertink et al., 1996 ).

Woodpeckers often forage on the species, and peel the bark to access insects underneath.

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is small to mid-sized species, being intermediate in size between North America's two most widespread Picoides woodpeckers ( the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers ).

Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are a territorial, nonmigratory, cooperative breeding species, frequently having the same mate for several years. The nesting season runs from April to June.

A number of other birds and small mammals use the cavities excavated by Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, such as chickadees, bluebirds, titmice, and several other woodpecker species, including the Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

Woodpeckers have short incubation period, but at contrary, nesting period is longer than in other birds ’ species.

( Waite, 1992 ) There are only two species in which kin selection has resulted in a shared food store: Beavers ( Castor canadensis ) and Acorn Woodpeckers ( Melanerpes formicivorous ); the former live in family groups and construct winter larders of submerged branches, while the latter are unusual in that they construct a conspicuous communal larder ( Koenig and Mumme, 1987 ).

Birds include many species of Ducks, Geese, Hawks, Falcons, Osprey, Vultures, Woodpeckers, Owls, Mockingbirds, Seabirds, Sandpipers, Gulls, Terns, Herons, Egrets, Ibis, Spoonbills, Doves, Kingfishers, Cuckoos, Quail, Turkey, Loons, Sparrows, Pelicans, Cormorants, Warblers and Hummingbirds.

However, Pileated Woodpeckers, apparently aberrant individuals, have been reported with white trailing edges on the wings, forming a white triangular patch on the lower back when perched.

The former differs in the less well-developed zigzag stripe on the neck, which neither reaches as far towards the center of the breast nor meets the black of the nape as it does in Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

The winter temperatures may exhibit a direct effect on winter survival of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers by heat loss, whereas weather conditions during spring have an indirect effect on breeding performance by affecting food production.

That large bird will prey on potential predators of the Firecrest such as Eurasian Sparrowhawks, and nest robbers like Grey Squirrels, Eurasian Jays and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Downy Woodpeckers forage on trees, picking the bark surface in summer and digging deeper in winter.

In winter, especially, Downy Woodpeckers can often be found in suburban backyards with trees and will feed on suet at birdfeeders.

Three-toed Woodpeckers forage on conifers in search of wood-boring beetle larvae or other insects.

In addition to Longleaf restoration, prescribed burning will enhance the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers ' preferred habitat of open, park-like stands, provide habitat for wildlife dependent on grass-shrub habitat, which is very limited, and reduce the risk of damaging wildfires.

However, on 31 May 1995 shuttle managers assessed damage to the External Tank of STS-70 caused by nesting Flicker Woodpeckers.

Red-crowned Woodpeckers feed on insects, but will take fruit and visit nectar feeders.

* In April, Louisiana State University student David Kulivan sees a pair of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area on the Louisiana / Mississippi border.