Art and Science at Cedar Creek
It's the middle of winter in Minnesota and with fewer opportunities to be outside for woodpecker viewing, what better activity than to...
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Red-headed Woodpecker Research and Recovery
Research Blog
Kyle Chen
Sep 29, 20214 min read
The Great Woodpecker vs. Squirrel War
We hope you enjoy this fantastic post from guest author, Kyle Chen. Kyle is a student at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, CA...
Caitlin Barale Potter
Jun 26, 20214 min read
Mining for Melanerpes
Our Woodpecker Cavity Cam project is in full swing! Over the last month, more than 1500 volunteers have made hundreds of thousands of...
Elena West
May 18, 20211 min read
Woodpecker Cavity Cam Launch!
Our much anticipated Woodpecker Cavity Cam Project has been launched! We've compiled thousands of videos from the trail cameras we...
Elena West
Jan 4, 20215 min read
Encounters of Many Kinds
Happy New Year from all of us on the red-headed woodpecker project! We're happy to report that we had a productive year and we're already...
Elena West
Oct 26, 20203 min read
Drilling Down
Red-headed woodpecker pair at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. Photo by Siah St. Clair. It's hard to believe that we were...
Elena West
Jul 17, 20203 min read
Cavity Visitors
Cavity-nesting species are an important component of many forest communities and there are a number of ways that these animals interact...
Elena West
Jun 16, 20202 min read
Rare Sightings
Field work on the red-headed woodpecker project is humming along and we're enjoying another season at Cedar Creek. The woodpeckers we...
Elena West
May 22, 20202 min read
A new kind of spring
The red-headed woodpecker breeding season at Cedar Creek has begun with a slow turn from winter to spring. We've finally rounded the...
Elena West
Feb 24, 20203 min read
Tracking Data Reveals Red-headed Woodpecker Migration
Red-headed Woodpeckers are facultative migrants, meaning that they leave their breeding grounds during some winters but not during...
Elena West
Jan 11, 20202 min read
Seven Swans a Swimming
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually by volunteers and organized by the...
Elena West
Nov 6, 20192 min read
Fall into winter
The fall season in Minnesota has been spectacular this year and we've been lucky to have a couple of solid months of bright autumn hues...
Elena West
Sep 2, 20191 min read
Above the fold
Greg Stanley, a reporter with the Star Tribune, joined us in the field last week to learn about red-headed woodpeckers and the research...
Elena West
Aug 4, 20193 min read
Sleuthing
Sightings of red-headed woodpeckers (RHWO) in Minnesota—particularly during the breeding season—are not unheard of, despite the species'...
Elena West
Jul 26, 20193 min read
Know your neighbor
Social behavior in birds and other animals is remarkably diverse, ranging from short-term interactions (like pollination or predation)...
Elena West
Jul 9, 20191 min read
Aerial Acrobatics
Happy July, everyone! Time is certainly flying. The red-headed woodpecker breeding season is well under way and keeping us very busy in...
Elena West
May 29, 20192 min read
Spring has arrived
The 2019 field season is upon us! A warm welcome to our new and returning citizen science volunteers! Unlike the start of the 2018...
Elena West
Oct 18, 20182 min read
Fight or Flight
Our project is very lucky to have so many talented and dedicated citizen science volunteers, many of whom work long hours throughout the...
Elena West
Sep 4, 20183 min read
Moving on
Post and illustration by Megan Massa From time to time I illustrate the woodpeckers at Cedar Creek, usually when something interesting...
Elena West
Aug 19, 20182 min read
An owl needs dinner too
For first-year red-headed woodpeckers (and many other bird species), late summer represents the beginning of independence from their...
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