Why a rare bird that vanished 30 years ago might soon return

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The last time anyone spotted a red-cockaded woodpecker in Tennessee, Bill Clinton was in his first term in the White House. Tom Hanks was starring as Forrest Gump on the silver screen, and a new television show named “Friends” was a month from hitting the airwaves.

More than three decades after that last known sighting in the summer of 1994, state and federal officials have an ambitious plan to bring back the imperiled bird to the Volunteer State, part of an effort to expand the range and population of a keystone species that once flourished across the Southeast before it veered toward extinction.

“Not too many people get to be part of bringing a species back to their state,” said David Hanni, a bird conservation biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. “It’s an awesome opportunity.”

-snip-

The strategy detailed by state and federal officials involves restoring an ideal habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker on about 1,200 acres inside the Savage Gulf State Natural Area, two hours southeast of Nashville. Despite its name, the robin-size bird is largely black and white, aside from a tiny red streak found on the side of the male’s head, and prefers deep nesting cavities in mature pine forests.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/why-rare-bird-vanished-30-145842879.html

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Slight exaggeration in the headline, but the article is interesting. It was a vanishing orchid that started things off.

My one big question -- is this the same as the "red-eared" woodpecker ? Years ago, I read a newspaper article about the efforts to save that bird from extinction. It indicated that the only known population in AL was in an unspecified area on land owned by Alabama Power, which actively kept trespassers away as part of the conservation effort.

Now, every attempt to locate info about that bird is fruitless -- Google keeps sending me dozens of hits for "red-headed", regardless of how I try to prevent it from doing so.

[mike_c]

3. could you perhaps be thinking of...

...the ivory billed woodpecker?

[eppur_se_muova]

4. No. Not Bigfoot either. The difference is obvious. nt

[mike_c]

5. just trying to be helpful

Who said anything about Bigfoot?

Edit: the "red eared woodpecker" you mentioned might be RCW, but they are certainly not restricted to a single population in Alabama. I studied populations in Georgia.

[jfz9580m]

6. The debate continues..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/10/16/ivory-billed-woodpecker/

I am inclined to trust the Centre for Biological Diversity on this, but I do get wanting to believe (like Agent Mulder) on this one at least ;-/..

[mike_c]

2. I did research on this bird's ecology back in the day

Part of my doctoral dissertation research. It has specific breeding habitat needs and competes for habitat with southern pine beetles who often target old growth pines with RCW nest cavities. They're a useful indicator species in the southern coastal plain.