This is bird note.

The Lewis's woodpeckers' glossy dark green back, red face and pink belly make it look as if it belongs in a tropical forest.

But this species is, in fact, an icon of the American West. A temperate migrant, this bird breeds across the western states in mature

ponderosa pine forests and then move south in winter. A century of logging and fire control

has taken its toll on these mature pine forests, the preferred nest site for the Lewis's woodpecker.

It takes a long time for a ponderosa pine to grow large enough for the woodpecker to carve out a

nest cavity. As nest holes have become scarcer, so have many other species that rely on them.

For example, the tiny flammulated owl has also declined.

Woo!

Woo! The tiny flammulated owl has also declined.

The moths that make up its diet are absent during northern winters,

so it is highly migratory, wintering in Mexico and Central America.

Thus, its fate is also tied to the health of tropical habitats.

But there is hope.

Lewis's woodpeckers also nest along rivers in large cottonwoods, trees of little value for timber.

Furthermore, many remaining tracks of old-growth ponderosa's are protected on public lands,

and the trees are growing larger as we speak.

For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann.