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...
Red-headed Woodpecker Research and Recovery
Research Blog
Kyle Chen
- Sep 29, 2021
- 4 min
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, 2021
- 4 min
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, 2021
- 1 min
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, 2021
- 5 min
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, 2020
- 3 min
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, 2020
- 3 min
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, 2020
- 2 min
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, 2020
- 2 min
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, 2020
- 3 min
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, 2020
- 2 min
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, 2019
- 2 min
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, 2019
- 1 min
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, 2019
- 3 min
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, 2019
- 3 min
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, 2019
- 1 min
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, 2019
- 2 min
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, 2018
- 2 min
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, 2018
- 3 min
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, 2018
- 2 min
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...