evelyn@m.cs.uiuc.edu (11/15/88)
Yesterday morning I was lucky enough to see, in the tree outside my bedroom window (in Champaign, Central Illinois) a pair of red-cockaded woodpeckers. They stuck around for about 10 minutes, and since they were 10-15 feet away, in full sun and unobscured, the identification was pretty well 100%. Even the male's cockade was visible. My field guide tells me that they are a very localized, endangered species, and their range does not reach as far north as Central Illinois. Was this a very unusual sighting, or have things changed a little since my field guide was published? (I'm thrilled anyway, they are such beautiful birds!) Fran Evelyn evelyn@cs.uiuc.edu
robert@cogen.UUCP (Robert Kuncio) (11/17/88)
In article <12300003@m.cs.uiuc.edu> evelyn@m.cs.uiuc.edu writes: > >Yesterday morning I was lucky enough to see, in the tree outside my >bedroom window (in Champaign, Central Illinois) a pair of red-cockaded >woodpeckers. > >My field guide tells me that they are a very localized, endangered species, >and their range does not reach as far north as Central Illinois. Was this >a very unusual sighting, or have things changed a little since my field >guide was published? (I'm thrilled anyway, they are such beautiful birds!) In the December-January issue of _National Wildlife_ there is an article by BillLawren: "Something to Sing About," which discusses the expansion of songbird ranges throughout the US and Canada. Among the species mentioned were hooded warblers, northern mockingbirds, cardinals, cliff swallows, American robins, house finches, blue-winged warblers, golden-crowned kinglets, golden- winged warblers, and others. Reasons for the advance in territory range from change in habitat by suburban encroachment to increased winter food from feedersand planted ornamentals. Among the birds in serious decline is your red- cockaded woodpecker, golden-cheeked warblers, black-capped vireos, Bachman's sparrow, and scarlet tanager. This sighting may be an 'accidental' or stray. It is also quite possible that the territory has shifted slightly. I recommend the article, for those of you who can get your hands on it. -- = Robert Kuncio ...!{seismo,esosun,suntan,celerit}!cogen!robert = = "'The real magic is to understand which words work, and when, and for what; = = the trick is to learn the trick.'" -- Dunyazade to her bridegroom, Shah = = Zaman of Samarkand, about Scheherazade =