The red-cockaded woodpecker, a small bird native to the United States, used to cause a lot of trouble to the military. The bird’s habitat is living long leaf pine trees, and vast stretches of Louisiana’s Fort Polk military reservation, which is located next to Kisatchie National Forest in Leesville, are dominated by piney woods. As the great forests of North America were logged, the bird’s habitat became so diminished that the red-cockaded woodpecker was placed on the endangered species list in 1970.
For years, the ranking officers at Fort Polk resisted the efforts of U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to create a recovery population in the Vernon District of Kisatchie, fearing that military exercises would be curtailed by nesting pairs. All of that has changed. Today the army and wildlife officials are working together in partnership on the Louisiana Statewide Red-cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor Program, which bands and studies breeding pairs both on the military base and in the national forest. The military has become great stewards of the land, says Monica Sikes, a biologist for U.S. Fish and Wildlife. “In our experience Fort Polk has worked proactively to conserve the species while meeting their training needs.”
Today’s New York Times is featuring a video, "Military Bases as Wildlife Havens," detailing the relationship between wildlife conservation and the military, focused on Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida. The work to preserve the red-cockaded woodpecker could just as easily have been shot at Fort Polk. Scroll down to the midsection of the NYT website and click on the video image.
... written by NORTHSIDIAN SHOTGUN , February 23, 2010 - 08:21 am
AY, TUT TUT....The Red Cockaded Woodpecker is closely related to the California Crimson Crest Woopdpecker, and it is very distantly related to the Louisiana Atchafalaya Swamp Woodpecker, by more than a few thousand miles................. But, thats where the quote, " birds of a feather stick together, ends ! .......... The two first woodpeckers mentioned above, the Red Cockaded $ the California Crimson, differ greatly from the third mentioned woodpecker, the Swamp Woodpecker. The first two woodpeckers are distinguishable from the Swamp Woodpecker by the size of their pecking beak, which is smaller less durable, and not suited for pecking on hardwood trees, they also differ in their diet preference, their main diet consists of a larvae found on the Lolly Leaf Pine Tree, and the other various variety of Pine trees. The Swamp Woodpecker primary diet consists of Crawfish Roe, and the native louisiana swamp, Catalapa Worm Larvae. I hope you will find this tidbit of information on these woodpeckers, useful on any of your future articles about woodpeckers.
... written by nolly , February 24, 2010 - 08:38 am
northsidian, i hope you are kidding with your comment. it makes absolutely no sense and is completely innaccurate.
... written by NORTHSIDIAN SHOTGUN , February 25, 2010 - 03:42 am
NOLLY, THE INFORMATION POSTED IS NOT FACTUAL IN ITS ENTIRETY. ACTUALLY SOME OF THE INFORMATION WAS GARNED FROM A MISH MASH OF OLD ARCHAIC SNIPPETS OF FOLKLORE REGARDING THE DISTINCT DIFFERENCES OF OUR FEATHERED NATIVE WOODPECKERS WHICH I PAINSTAKINGLY TYPE-SET IN A BOOKLET FORM, ALL 3000 PAGES, REGARDING NATIVE AMERICAN WOODPECKERS.......... WHILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN PRINT FORM, I AM STILL IN POSSESSION OF THE ORIGINAL TYPE-SET COPY OF MISH-MASH FOLKLORE BOOKLET : IF YOU WOULD SEND $ 35.99, AND A SELF ADRESSED POSTAGE PAID ENVELOPE TO MY ORGANIZATION, THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGIST ORGANIZATION OF WOODPECKER LORE. I WILL MIMEGRAPH A SET OF MY PERSONAL PAPERS COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS OF EACH OF THE SPECIES OF WOODPECKERS, MENTIONED IN MY PREVIOUS COMMENT AND SEND YOU A LEATHER BOUND BOOKLET, SANS S/H. ALSO A TECHNI-COLOR DVD OF ""FLY DONOVAN FLY.....
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But, thats where the quote, " birds of a feather stick together, ends ! .......... The two first woodpeckers mentioned above, the Red Cockaded $ the California Crimson, differ greatly from the third mentioned woodpecker, the Swamp Woodpecker. The first two woodpeckers are distinguishable from the Swamp Woodpecker by the size of their pecking beak, which is smaller less durable, and not suited for pecking on hardwood trees, they also differ in their diet preference, their main diet consists of a larvae found on the Lolly Leaf Pine Tree, and the other various variety of Pine trees.
The Swamp Woodpecker primary diet consists of Crawfish Roe, and the native louisiana swamp, Catalapa Worm Larvae.
I hope you will find this tidbit of information on these woodpeckers, useful on any of your future articles about woodpeckers.