The red-cockaded woodpecker  

Red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) are identified by their black heads and large, white cheek patches. Their name was inspired by the tiny red streak in the head feathers of the males called a cockade. The feathers on their backs form a black-and-white bar pattern. Their underbellies are white with black spots.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers have feet that are well adapted to climbing trees. Each foot has 4 toes; 2 face forward and 2 backward. Each toe is tipped with a sharp claw. These adaptations give woodpeckers a powerful grip on the vertical surfaces of a tree trunk, enabling them to climb trees to search for insects in the bark or dig their nests high above most predators.

Social and reproductive aspects
Red-cockaded woodpeckers are one of the least-known species of the woodpecker family. They are found only in mature pine forests that contain trees whose heartwood has been softened by fungus. They dig their nests in these trees with their sharp, pointed beaks. Females typically lay 4 eggs in the nest.

Predators
To repel predators, red-cockaded woodpeckers dig small holes in the bark around the openings of their nests that allow sap to ooze freely. The sap that accumulates around the nest openings is an irritant to predators such as snakes. Red-cockaded woodpeckers are an endangered species.  Birds of prey such as peregrine falcons feed upon these woodpeckers.

References
Special thanks to the National Audubon Society.