Follow the Wandering Woodpecker
Citizen Scientists Track the Red-bellied Woodpecker

Media contact: David Bonter
607/254-2457, dnb23@cornell.edu
Photos available to the media upon request.

November 2005, Ithaca, NY--With its flaming red Mohawk hairdo, the red-bellied woodpecker is hard to miss--and it may be in your backyard soon. According to data gathered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch, these southern birds are traveling farther north each year. Last winter this woodpecker made a major movement into New England and Atlantic Canada, adding a new species to the list of birds seen at feeders in the region. How much farther will these birds expand their range? Will they survive in their new northern home?

These are the kinds of questions that citizen observers will be helping to answer beginning November 12, when this year's Project FeederWatch season gears up. Each year more than 15,000 participants record the birds they see at their feeders and submit their sightings to the Lab of Ornithology.  Last winter, FeederWatchers helped document the red-bellied woodpecker's range expansion. This season, Lab researchers will be carefully watching to see whether or not last winter’s immigrant woodpeckers are still in their newly adopted northern range, and to track where the birds will turn up next.

In spite of their “red-bellied” name, the belly of this bird is hardly its most distinguishing feature. In fact, the faint reddish wash on the belly is very hard to see when the woodpecker is clinging to the side of a tree. But that’s the only thing that’s subtle about this bird. If you haven’t seen one, this species’ black-and-white barred back and loud, laughter-like call are unmistakable. Red-bellied woodpeckers are commonly seen at backyard bird feeders from Florida to southern New York. Nearly nonexistent in New England prior to last winter, the species was reported by 59% of participants in Massachusetts, 24% in Maine and New Hampshire, and 13% in Vermont last winter. A few birds were even reported in New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

You can help track the movements of red-bellied woodpeckers and other species. The more eyes peeled, the better! Anyone interested in signing up for Project FeederWatch in the United States can do so online or by calling the Lab toll-free at (800) 843-2473. In Canada, contact Bird Studies Canada at (888) 448-2473. The new season runs from November 12, 2005, to April 7, 2006. Participants are invited to join at any time.

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The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit membership institution interpreting and conserving the earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds.