Red-headed woodpeckers are in decline

The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) was once a very common woodpecker. In the mid-1800s, John James Audubon stated that the red-headed woodpecker was the most common woodpecker in North America. He called them semi-domesticated because they weren’t afraid of people. He stated that they were camp robbers and also a pest. According to the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count data, between the 1950s and the year 2010, the population of red-headed woodpeckers dropped dramatically. Over 80 percent of the population died out in just over 50 years. Currently we continue to lose about 2 percent each year. That means within a couple decades we could see this bird become extinct if the trend continues.

Surce: Eden Prairie News, 16 August 2017
http://www.swnewsmedia.com/eden_prairie_news/news/sports/red-headed-woo…