Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Appearance: A red-cockaded woodpecker is slightly larger than a bluebird. It has a large white cheek patch, and the top and back of the head are black. The back is barred with black and white. The red-cockade, on the male only, consists of a small red streak above the cheek and is rarely visible.

Habitat: Once common in the vast expanses of mature pine forests that covered much of the southeastern coastal plain, the red-cockaded woodpecker is now a federally listed endangered species. Today, the birds' preferred habitat -- the longleaf pine ecosystem -- has been eliminated from 97 percent of the lands it once occupied.