Issue link: https://alabamapower.uberflip.com/i/705219
23 Shor e l i n e S | 2016 Vol :2 Alabama Power employees perform prescribed burning, harvest timber, clear the midstory and track the birds to maintain the habitat. Because the red-cockaded woodpecker is the only bird in North America that excavates its cavities in living pine trees, this habitat enhancement is crucial for its survival. The man-made cavities can be installed in about 40 minutes and are the size of a 16-ounce can with an entrance tunnel that is about 1 1/2 inches wide. The artificial cavities became popular after Hurricane Hugo hit the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina in 1989, destroying more than half of the red- cockaded nests. The birds on their own can take anywhere from six months to six years to excavate cavities, drilling through the sapwood on the outside of the tree to lay their eggs and live inside. "They have a big investment in that cavity," said Spadgenske. "The trees have to be very old, at least 80 years old, so that the heartwood and sapwood ratio is correct." A family group, usually two to six birds, lives in a cluster of cavity trees, each in its own cavity. There may be up to a dozen cavity trees in the area, and the family group will defend that territory from other red- cockaded woodpeckers. "In an area that is critically small like this, when you lose a nest in this population, it's a big deal because there are only 15 groups of birds here altogether," said Spadgenske. "If the birds don't re-nest, they have no reproduction for that year, they can't Left: Photo courtesy of JeRoen MaRtJan laMMeRtink – The red-cockaded woodpecker nests in cavities that it creates within the longleaf pine trunk. Above: Photo by aRden WaRd – Spadgenske climbs a longleaf pine on Lake Mitchell to survey red-cockaded woodpeckers. "AL ABA M A POWER IS A CRITIC AL PARTNER IN ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY. IF AL ABA M A POWER WASN'T AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN THE M ANAGEMENT OF THIS BIRD, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST AND WE WOULD HAVE LOST THESE BIRDS FOREVER." – ER IC SPA D GENSK E, A BI O L O G IS T FO R T HE U.S. FISH A ND W IL D L IFE SER V ICE.