94 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 73 



Distribution: Uncommon to fairly common resident in all regions of the 

 Valley; most numerous along the St. Croix River and its major tributaries. 

 Because of large breeding territories and relative scarcity, low numbers of 

 this woodpecker are recorded along BBS transects (Table 3). All five survey 

 routes traverse fair to good habitat, yet this woodpecker is recorded in very 

 low numbers. 



Winter: Winter distribution of this woodpecker is presented in Table 4. 

 Largest winter populations occur in the Western Upland. The pileated wood- 

 pecker is fairly regular during winter in Burnett, Douglas, and Pine 

 counties where a combination of Northern Hardwood Forest and coniferous 

 forest provides optimum habitat. 



Habitat: The pileated woodpecker is characteristic of large expanses of the 

 mature Lowland Deciduous Forest along and adjacent to the St. Croix 

 River. Fairly common in mature Upland Hardwood Forest and Lowland 

 Coniferous Forest. Uncommon to rare in Southern Deciduous Forest. Rare 

 to absent in other habitat types. 



Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 

 Status: Regular permanent resident. 



Distribution: Fairly common breeding bird in the Western Upland, un- 

 common to rare in the Central Plain, and rare to absent in the Northern 

 Highland. The red-bellied woodpecker is a southern species that reaches its 

 northern range limit along the St. Croix River (Peterson 1951). 



Breeding Bird Survey data show that red-bellied woodpeckers occur regu- 

 larly in central Polk County. Occasional birds with young are observed 

 in Burnett and southern Pine counties. Hamerstrom and Hamerstrom (1963) 

 include two confirmed nest records from along the St. Croix River in western 

 Burnett County. Movement into the northern regions must be fairly recent 

 since Jackson (1942) failed to record this species in 1919 during his work in 

 northwestern Wisconsin. Bernard (1967) considered this species to be very 

 rare in Douglas County, citing three observations in areas north of the St. 

 Croix River. Green and Janssen (1975) cited documented breeding records 

 for Washington County and showed red-bellied woodpecker breeding range 

 extending north to the Chisago-Pine county line. 



Winter: Locally a fairly common winter resident in the Western Upland, rare 

 and local adjacent to the St. Croix River in the Central Plain (CBC; Table 4). 



Habitat: This woodpecker is a characteristic species of Lowland Deciduous 

 Forest. Large expanses of lowland forest occurring along the St. Croix River 

 and its major tributaries provide excellent breeding habitat. During the 

 breeding season, pairs also use the edge between lowland forest and South- 

 ern Deciduous Forest and locally in Northern Hardwood Forest. Wintering 

 birds are found primarily in Lowland Deciduous Forest and Southern Decid- 

 uous Forest. This woodpecker is attracted to corncribs on farms near wood- 

 land edges during the winter. 



