Red Cockaded Woodpecker

Save the Red-cockaded Woodpecker! Did you know the Red-cockaded Woodpecker has been on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s list of endangered species since 1970? That is 41 years. Today, thereare only 14,068 Red-cockaded Woodpecker living in 11 States.
This unique bird is endangered because its habitat is being destroyed by nature and man. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is not likeother woodpeckers. They make their nests in live pine trees. Other woodpeckers look for dead or rotting trees to make their home. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and the Southern Pine Beetles are dangerous tothe Red-cockaded Woodpecker’s habitat because the trees either fall down with the storm or are killed by the beetles. That means they are no longer ‘live’. Man is responsible for destroying theRed-cockaded Woodpecker’s habitat with logging, agriculture, and expanding cities. They all require trees to be cut down, and that means the Red-cockaded Woodpecker’s home is destroyed. Every day theRed-cockaded Woodpecker has fewer and fewer live pine trees to make build its nest.
To give this bird a chance at survival, we must protect its habitat. Its habitat can be saved by creatingfederal and public lands which are protected. If the land is protected it cannot be farmed, and trees cannot be cut down. To make sure people understand why the uncontrolled growth of cities and theexpansion of farms must be limited, the public must be informed that they both kill birds and animals by making the area they can live in smaller and smaller. The problem is so severe we may never seesome of these birds or animals again. If we break the food chain by eliminating the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, there will be extra insects which will create other problems.
Some people who arevery concerned about the extinction of this woodpecker are already trying to save it. These people are taking man-made nests into the forests and drilling holes in live pine trees hoping the...