Gila Woodpecker
Animals of all kinds are struggling to survive as our world changes. Day by
day,
people require even more space, food, etc., and all these demands put a
squeeze
on the earth's resources, including its wildlife. The biggest problem
for
wildlife today is that people destroy and change natural landscapes and
animals
lose places that they need to live in. Otherwise known as Melanerpes
uropygialis,
the Gila woodpecker is being threatened with extinction. There
is a large
environmental impact on this endangered animal. The Gila
woodpecker is very
unique bird in which no similar species overlap its range.
In relation there is
the Red-bellied Woodpecker and the Golden-fronted
Woodpecker. There is much to
know about the Gila woodpecker and its
environment. The Gila woodpecker has a
zebra-striped back and a plain,
grayish tan head and breast. They have black
wings, which are spotted with
white. The white spots can be seen while the bird
is in flight. It has a
white rear and upper tail with small dark barring. The
adult males have
small, red caps on the top of their head. These woodpeckers are
chisel-billed
and wood boring. They also have very powerful feet, extremely long
tongues,
and stiff spiny tails that act as tails while climbing. The Gila
woodpecker
reaches about 23 cm in length. The Gila woodpeckers all have a
similar
habitat. Most live in California riparian woodlands, cottonwood
groves,
parklands and residential neighborhoods that have tall trees all year
round.
Also, the Gila woodpecker is common in cactus woodlands in
southwestern U.S. and
northwestern Mexico. The Gila woodpecker is especially
noisy and is known for
making saguaro-hole homes. Woodpeckers tend to use the
same nesting hold twice,
but the holes are often taken by rodents and other
animals. After constructing
these holes in trees, they tend to resemble
aviary apartment houses. The diet of
the Gila woodpecker consists of insects,
ants and mistletoe berries in the
winter. They make their homes in dead tree
limbs and trunks. Females, who do not
have red caps on their head, usually
lay 3-5 eggs, which hatch in April. The
young can fly in approx. one month
and in most conditions a second brood fledges
by late June. The reasons for
the decline of the Gila woodpecker are competition
with European starling.
Also, few healthy native woodlands remain, which force
birds into less than
ideal habitats. Most people feel it is important to save
wildlife, but
sometimes conservation appears to interfere with other seemingly
important
things. If, for example, people make a living by cutting down trees,
they may
feel that the protection of an endangered species puts their jobs
in
jeopardy. Business making large profits from an industry may not want to
change
their practices in order to preserve species either. Governments may
become
involved in resolving these issues, but because of these issues,
saving the
wildlife is quite a difficult task. Most endangered species are
not well known.
Many are not cute or appealing to humans. Nevertheless,
these creatures often
play vital roles in nature. They are all part of a life
known to exist in the
universe, and worth a great effort to keep alive in the
wild habitats of this
home we
share.