A century ago, red-headeds were the commonest woodpecker in Ohio. Perhaps they'd flourished with the clearing of the virgin forests, as I imagine them as a bird of open country. They often nested in towns, and people complained about the racket they made, and condemned their damage to orchards. Many called them and the downy woodpecker "sapsuckers." Before birds were protected by law--and probably thereafter--they were widely persecuted. Audubon wrote of a hundred being shot on a single cherry tree in one day. You know what they say about familiarity and contempt. Their numbers are much diminished today. When mast crops are good, some winter in Ohio by surviving on stashed acorns, etc. In warm weather, they are fond of insects, catching them in mid-air, gorging on ants on the ground, etc. Like other woodpeckers they are indifferent fliers, and because they often pursue bugs across open areas, they were more often killed by automobiles than nearly any rural bird. Red-headeds use cavities, especially in dead trees, for nesting and food storage. Their winter numbers fluctuate with the mast crop; I guess their summer numbers don't as much. These are often the first trees cut in woodlots, parks, golf courses, etc., so birders have gotten used to looking for them in dead trees that are a little harder to cut down, such as in swampy sites. They used to make use of utility poles, too, but chemical treatments today discourage them, and of course wooden fence posts, along with woodpeckers, bluebirds, etc., are disappearing. So times are tough for these birds, but if you look in the right places they are around. Because they like mature trees, especially oak/hickory/beech, seek those out. Because they like open spaces as well, look along the edges of large woodlands, or in woodlots in rural situations, especially those with a fairly open understory. A farmhouse set in a nice grove of big nut trees, with the ground cleared beneath them, often will host them. If you're in old prairie territory, check out isolated mottes of big old oaks. Old orchards can be good, too. They like good lookouts, and it pays to check out high snags, tops of dead trees, telephone poles. A flooded stand of tall skeletal hardwoods is always worth checking. A study was made of golf courses in Ohio as sites for these birds recently, with what results I can't say. Probably others will have more suggestions. Anyway, I'm not seeing more of these handsome birds lately, but they are still to be seen, and well worth it. Bill Whan Columbus Greg Spahr wrote: > In the last week, I have seen two different Red Headed Woodpeckers (one > in Seneca County near Fostoria, and the other in Greene County in > downtown Wilberforce). Usually, I can go for years without seeing one, > and I happened to just stumble upon these two. So I thought I would > ask the group how your perceptions of this species are this year. Are > you seeing more of them, or did I just get lucky and see a couple even > though they are still declining in Ohio? > > Good birding, > > Greg Spahr > Fairborn, Ohio > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]