PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Birdwatchers are flocking to North Park, hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare red-headed woodpecker.
“It’s kind of funny, most people call all woodpeckers red-headed woodpeckers, but this one is truly the red-headed woodpecker,” said Jim Bonner, the executive director for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.
The 8- to 9-inch woodpecker is elegant, sleek and extremely rare. Bonner says they’re on the watch list.
“Over the past 50 years, they’ve been losing about one percent of their population every year,” Bonner said.
He says they prefer decaying trees and open spaces and North Park has both.
“They’re particularly fond of larger trees, ideally some that have dead branches or dead parts to them often referred to as snags, because that is what they excavate and live in,” he said.
Bonner says each woodpecker species has its own tapping pattern, so keep your eyes and ears open, but know you won’t be alone.