JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - It's autumn, and time to carry endangered woodpeckers to new territory.
More than 80 pairs of juvenile red cockaded woodpeckers are being moved from big groups in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas forests to small groups in those states and Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.
In Louisiana, eight pairs were moved Monday from the Kisatchie (kis-ATCH-ee) National Forest - four to the Warren Prairie Natural Area in south-central Arkansas, and four elsewhere in the Kisatchie.
Thursday night, biologists caught seven more pairs.
At their new homes, males and females are put into neighboring man-made woodpecker holes.
Artificial holes are needed because few pines are old enough to have soft heartwood, allowing easier excavation by the cardinal-sized woodpeckers.
The birds are found in 11 states.
Online:
http://www.fws.gov/rcwrecovery/files/rcwoodpecker.pdf
Kisatchie National Forest: www.fs.usda.gov/kisatchie
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
(Source: US Fish and Game)
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