Rare Woodpeckers Reintroduced To South Georgia WMA

By Ammoland Editor Joe Evans

THOMASVILLE, Ga. -(Ammoland.com)- Red-cockaded woodpeckers have returned to River Creek.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources biologists teamed with partner organizations Oct. 19-20 to capture and move eight of these small, endangered woodpeckers from Apalachicola National Forest in Florida to River Creek, the Rolf and Alexandra Kauka Wildlife Management Area in southwest Georgia.

The species has not been a resident on that site for some 30 years. DNR wildlife biologist Joe Burnam hopes the four males and four females released in pairs signal a new start.

“The idea is they stick around and establish breeding pairs, and throughout time build the population up,” he said.

If so, the property bought in 2005 in part to restore these woodpeckers will be only DNR’s third WMA with family groups of them.

Named for the thin, red streak between the black crown and cheek patch on males, red-cockaded woodpeckers are the only woodpecker in the U.S. that excavates cavities in living pines.

The species’ decline has mirrored the drastic loss of mature pine forests with open understories. The birds landed on the Endangered Species Act list in 1970. Suitable habitat is now found mostly on military bases, national forests and other public lands, …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand