TRANSCRIPT:
Hello this is Dr. Tom Mullikin with SCDNR for Into the Wild.
In an open pine forest, a red-cockaded woodpecker may spend years working on a single cavity. Unlike other woodpeckers, it excavates its home in a living pine tree.
The bird often chooses an older tree softened inside by red heart fungus. Around the cavity entrance, it pecks small wells that release sticky resin down the trunk. That resin can make the climb more difficult for snakes and other predators.
The finished cavity may later shelter other birds, flying squirrels, or reptiles, making this woodpecker another important builder in the forest. Its survival depends on mature pines and an open understory maintained by fire. Protect the right trees and the right landscape, and one small cavity can serve wildlife for decades.