Geographic Variation of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

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Abstract
The red-cockaded woodpecker [Picoides borealis] varies clinally, with longer-winged and longer-tailed birds occurring away from the coasts and farther north than shorter-winged and shorter-tailed birds, in apparent confirmation of Bergmann''s ecogeographic rule. Variation in culmen length shows no geographic pattern per se but culmens are relatively shorter in the interior and in the north. There appears to be no sexual dimorphism in wing or tail length but males on the average have a slightly longer culmen than do females. There is a significant negative regression of both wing and tail length with mean Jan. and mean July temperature, stronger in the 1st case. Geographic variation in the species is not well represented by description of subspecies, although 2 have been recognized. In case of continued recognition, the boundary of the southern one should be extended north along the Atlantic Coastal Plain through South Carolina, including all of Florida [USA] except the panhandle.

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