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By Chuck Martin
Moody Forest Preserve Manager
I was pretty sure that the red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) I was listening to had just disappeared into a cavity. I raised my binoculars to get a better look at this small hole more than 50 feet high in a longleaf pine tree at Moody Forest Natural Area near Baxley, Ga. The cavity was surrounded by the reddish brown color of the inner layers of bark, revealed only after the male RCW removed the outer loose bark.
This was about 8 o’clock on a May morning, the time of year we hope to find a nest tree. While the woodpecker stayed in the cavity for about 15 minutes, I made my way back to the truck, all the time thinking how fortunate I am to see such a beautiful yet endangerd bird.
Scientist Play Matchmaker
This past winter the population of RCWs at Moody Forest was down to one male. With the nearest populations of RCWs more than 30 miles away, the chances were slim that our male bird would encounter a female.
To encourage other RCWs to nest at Moody, biologist Phil Spivey with Georgia Department of Natural Resources created six artificial cavities in longleaf pines strategically located around Moody Forest. This spring three birds were relocated from Fort Stewart to these new cavities.
We attempted to monitor these new birds to see if they were using these ready-made homes, but we eventually decided to wait and see what happens during nesting season. And that’s why I was out on that May morning, trying to see if I could find a tree with the tell-tale signs of an active nest.
Enduring several mornings and evenings of swarming mosquitoes, it was a turning point to finally seeing the RCW enter this nest tree. Now I could watch for signs of chicks in the cavity.
Every couple of days I would visit the tree to see if I could hear the young or see any change in activity. Several days passed with generally the same routine: the adults would come and go about every 15 to 20 minutes, but still no sounds from the cavity. A few days of wind and heavy rain made it a challenge to hear anything or keep a close eye on the tree.
Pass the Cigars!
Finally, it happened. On May 26—for the first time in two years—the sounds of RCW chicks were heard at Moody Forest. A true triumph for our conservation efforts!
On June 29, Phil was on his ladder at the cavity removing the chicks for banding—a harmless technique to identify individual birds in the future without the need to capture them.
Our hope is that one of the young RCWs will eventually relocate to one of the artificial cavities at Moody Forest and continue the cycle of life. That would be another major step in our work to increase the numbers of RCWs at Moody Forest.
The Allure of the Longleaf Pine Forest
Listening to the woodpeckers, finding the cavity, hearing the chicks, and seeing them banded have been some of the highpoints of my job as Moody Forest Preserve manager. But on those days when I did not find any birds or cavities and had to deal with pesky bugs, I was able to spend some quality time in an old-growth stand of longleaf pine, a major focal point of what we are conserving at Moody Forest.
If I would have kept track of all I had seen and heard and thought about while I was in the woods (and if I were a better writer), I could fill a lot more space with the rare experience of spending time in an old-growth longleaf pine stand.
Chuck Martin has worked as the Moody Forest Preserve manager for The Nature Conservancy since 2006. He can be reached at chuck_martin@tnc.org.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Shan Cammack/GA DNR (Moody Forest Natural Area); Photo © © Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (Red-cockaded Woodpecker).
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