Rare redheaded woodpecker seen in Oradell (NJ)

[Donna]

A gorgeous redhead has been hanging out in a park in Oradell for several months, and it just might be a sign of great things to come.

A redheaded woodpecker has been hanging out recently in Oradell. This kind of woodpecker is a threatened species in New Jersey because its woodlands habitat is disappearing.

The redhead in question is a woodpecker — on New Jersey's threatened list. "This is a beautiful bird, red from the shoulders up, with a distinctive solid black and white body," says Patrick Scheuer, senior naturalist at New Jersey Audubon's Lorrimer Sanctuary in Franklin Lakes. "Being a redhead myself, I guess I'm a bit partial."

The redheaded woodpecker, about the size of a robin, is fairly rare for northern New Jersey, particularly this time of year. An immature redhead was seen in late December and early January at Campgaw Reservation in Mahwah, and a pair hung out near the Ridgewood Duck Pond some years back. But sightings are typically few and far between on this side of the Great Swamp in central Jersey.

The Oradell redhead, an adult, has been working the dead trees along the closed portion of Elm Street on Van Buskirk Island since the Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 19. If the bird is still there, it should be fairly easy to see across the street from the old waterworks. It likes to work high up along the trunks of the trees from the water's edge to a big dead tree by the roadway.

The bird is there because that patch of park has the type of habitat that has been disappearing in North Jersey.

"These birds require open dry woodlands with fairly mature trees, and we've lost a lot of that habitat to housing and other development over the years," says Scheuer.

Although no nesting behavior has been observed as of late February, Scheuer is optimistic: "It would be neat to have a nesting pair this far north because it would mean their numbers are rebounding. Hopefully, we'll see more in the future."

But Scheuer cautions that seeing a woodpecker with a bright red head doesn't mean you've seen a redheaded woodpecker. "We get a lot of calls at Lorrimer from people who say they've seen a redheaded woodpecker, and it invariably turns out that they saw a red-bellied woodpecker – which also has a red head."

That brings up one of the cardinal (no pun intended) rules of bird-watching: When you hear hoof beats, think horses — not zebras.

In other words, when you see a bird you can't identify immediately, consider the most likely possibility first. Chances are far greater that the woodpecker with the red head in your back yard is a red-bellied.

* Tip o' the day: If you go to Oradell's Van Buskirk Island in search of the redheaded woodpecker, keep an eye to the sky – you might see a bald eagle as well. They have been roosting at the nearby Oradell Reservoir.

Caption: A redheaded woodpecker has been hanging out recently in Oradell. This kind of woodpecker is a threatened species in New Jersey because its woodlands habitat is disappearing.

[valhalla]

Very cool - FYI, Rich and I would hang out there in our "younger" days.