MT. ZION —A distinct knocking sound could be heard in the southern red oak behind me. It stopped briefly before starting up again, this time on an American Hornbeam tree, also known as Irownwood, maybe 20 yards in front of me. 

My binoculars caught a glimpse of a wood pecker working its way up the trunk of the hornbeam. It was not bothered by this writer’s subtle movements to video, photograph and watch. It was the most action seen in a four hour deer hunt.

Did you know of the 400 birds which live in Mississippi, there are nine species of wood peckers.

One of the nine native wood peckers is thought to be extinct. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has been unsuccessful in identifying any individuals or populations of ivory billed woodpeckers. Ivory billed woodpeckers were last spotted in Louisiana in 1944 and Mississippi had a few unconfirmed sightings in the 1980s. One wood pecker is commonly misidentified as the ivory-billed woodpecker, the pileated woodpecker which we have written about before. 

This woodpecker was easily identified by the succinct black and white zebra stripe pattern on its back and a white head with a scarlet red crest as a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Due to how the woodpecker works on a tree it is often difficult to see its pale red belly. 

All about the Red-bellied

According to the Audubon Society, Red-bellied Woodpeckers are about the size of a robin and are ten inches long from head to tail. These birds are most often found in hardwoods especially along rivers and swamps but can be seen in mixed upland stands. 

Red-bellied Woodpeckers like to feed on insects by foraging on tree trunks and branches. They will also perch in trees to feed on mast crops such as cherries, berries and acorns according to the Audubon Society. The species is listed as least concern due to a healthy population. 

According to the University of Michigan, the Red-bellied Woodpecker has two toes facing forward and two toes facing backward to help climb tree trunks upright. Most birds have three forward toes and one backward toe. 

Red-bellied Woodpeckers breeding pairs are formed from early winter to late spring with nesting in late March and early April. Once the pair finds a suitable dead tree or live tree with dead limbs they will excavate a cavity to nest. Four eggs are laid and hatch in 12 days. Chicks will start to leave the nest 27 to 29 days after hatching. Parents help the fledgings grow for up to 10 weeks until they drive them away into new territory. 

Clifford Shackleford et al reported a study conducted in Mississippi found fledglings driven away from their hatch site did not return to nest within 80 meters of that site. The report was published in the Birds of North America. 

According to the report, 55 percent of Red-belied Woodpeckers which hatch will survive to leave the nest. Shackleford’s report noted the success rate could be affected due to competition with European Starlings and areas with less competition had better success. 

The longest lifespan recorded of a Red-bellied Woodpecker was 12 years and one month. While predation is one common mortality event for the Red-bellied Woodpecker, the report stated the birds have died from being stuck in pine resin, hit by automobiles, shot by humans and in traps. 

Here are the other woodpeckers found in the state:

• Red-cockaded woodpeckers
• Pileated woodpeckers
• Downy woodpeckers
• Hairy woodpeckers
• Red-headed woodpeckers
• Northern flicker
• Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Right now is a great time to get out in the woods and listen for a wide variety of birds. Barred owls, Canada geese, wood ducks, woodpeckers, wrens, cardinals, titmouse, chickadees, robins, thrushes and phoebes are all out there singing.