Wildlife Promise » woodpeckers

Photo of the Day: Nuttall’s Woodpeckers

Rachel Stemen — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:37:49 +0000

Nuttall’s woodpeckers feeding their fledgling in Los Osos, California

Gardening For Wildlife

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Twelve Tree-Mendous Wildlife Facts for National Wildlife Week

Suzi Letouze — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:08:51 +0000

Next Monday we’ll join children across the country in a celebration of trees during National Wildlife Week. This year, we’re teaming up with kids and hope to plant 75,000 trees in honor of National Wildlife Week’s 75th anniversary. Read about the ways wildlife interact with trees and learn how to help below.

Help us plant 75,000 trees for National Wildlife Week, and be sure to share this with your friends on Facebook.

Support National Wildlife Federation’s efforts to plant 75,000 native trees in celebration of National Wildlife Week! Make a generous tax-deductible donation today >>

If you’re an educator, you can find out more about about National Wildlife Week and all of the great educator resources we have available at NWF.org/NationalWildlifeWeek. If you have any questions about National Wildlife Week, contact us at nationalwildlifeweek@nwf.org.

3/18 Update: A prior version of this infographic incorrectly stated the height of trees from whence wood duck ducklings leap.

Wildlife with Marvelous Mustaches – Movember Edition

Danielle Brigida — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:55:20 +0000

While Movember is a fun way to support a serious issue, we thought it was important to highlight some wildlife touting mustaches (or moustaches if you prefer) in style. So take a few minutes and read about some of these fascinating creatures sporting tasteful mustaches in unique ways.

1. Emperor Tamarin Monkey: It is rumored that the emperor tamarin was named for how it resembled the German emperor Wilhelm II, due to the characteristics of its mustache.

2. Mountain Lion Cubs: Besides being a fierce predator, mountain lions are fantastic for sporting fur mustaches.

3. Northern Flicker: This male yellow-shafted flicker is distinguishable from his western relative because he has a black malar instead of a red one.

4. Mustached Bats: Bats from the family Mormoopidae are nicknamed mustached bats, but as you can see, they aren’t kidding. This Antillean Ghost-faced Bat’s face depicts quite the ‘stache! The other bats sporting mustaches aren’t quite as lucky. Unfortunately a sign of a bat that suffered from white nose syndrome is a white fungus around the nose. Learn how you can help bats with bad mustaches here.

5. Moustached Treeswift: While much is unknown about the size of this bird’s population, we can definitely say they show off one awesome mustache.

6. Catfish: This diverse group of fish are named for their barbels that resemble cat whiskers. But they aren’t the only fish to sport mustache look-a-likes: the male molly fish in Mexico actually attracts females with his mustache.

7. Inca Tern: This bird eats anchovies and breeds on the coast of Peru and Chile—clearly an example of elegance and class!

8. Robber Fly: While we don’t take the time to look this closely at many of the insects near us, we wanted to show that up close, insects like this robber fly, dragon flies and even butterflies will demonstrate mustaches.

9. Walrus: The grizzly whiskers on this walrus impressed us. These animals are only aggressive during mating season– but still it may be best to not look this animal in the eye…

10. Tentacled Snake: These snakes are new to the Smithsonian National Zoo and have a fascinating “mustache”. Their facial feature serves as sensory mechanisms that allow them to pick up vibrations from prey.

This Photo courtesy of Brittany Steff, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Will you never tire of animals with mustaches? Visit this hilarious Tumblr for some fun (and less realistic) animal mustaches.

Happy mustaches everyone!

Photo of the Day: Red-bellied Woodpecker

Rachel Stemen — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:55:23 +0000

Photo by Flickr member snooker2009
See more of the snooker2009′s photos on Flickr >>

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Take Friday to Think About Endangered Species

Julia Marden — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:10:15 +0000

Last week, the Senate passed a resolution declaring today, May 15, as Endangered Species Day. It’s a day for all of us wildlife enthusiasts (and those who are still joining the party) to learn about endangered species and their habitats.

I was talking with my colleague and fellow blogger Danielle this morning, and she brought up a great point:

“Everyone knows that panda bears and African elephants are endangered. But do we ever think enough about the Virginia big-eared bat?”

So I did some research and found more than twenty wildlife species that live in my neighborhood, all threatened with extinction.

Today, in honor of Endangered Species Day, @wildlifeaction is tweeting for the Red-cockaded woodpecker, native to the DC-area, and already extinct in nearby Maryland. #speciesday

What animal are you thinking of today?

I’m going to turn this over to Danielle (@NWF and @starfocus) now, so she can give you some more facts.

What does Endangered Species Day mean to me? Julia mentioned my pet peeve–everyone seems to know everything about endangered species that are cute, large and very often cuddly–but they also live very far away. I think it’s equally important to know about the animals in YOUR area. Yes I know, some people don’t think they have to care about endangered clams in Virginia–but the truth is–you should. These are the animals that we have an effect on and that have an effect on us.

The sad truth is that we can’t even go to America.gov and get an exclusive look at our nation’s endangered species, and believe me we have plenty of them to fill a page. But that’s ok. Now that we know there are plenty of local animals let’s work to protect them! NWF offers lots of ways.

I think that Endangered Species Day is about ALL of these animals, and that we should never underestimate the importance of protecting even animals far away.

I want to challenge our readers to learn at least ONE new species that is endangered in your area. I think just by being aware of these animals and learning how to protect them, we can be better stewards of the earth. To me, Endangered Species Day reminds me that while it’s important to save what we love it’s equally important to protect what we may not understand.

Just a heads up: “There are currently 1317 species listed in the U.S.: 746 plants and 571 animals. To find out what endangered species are near you, and how you can help, please visit www.fws.gov/endangered.”

I’ll be tweeting for the Gray Bat!

At the National Wildlife Federation–we want to know about the endangered species you care about, whether you tweet it, share it on facebook, post a blog or even a comment below! Share with us a species you learned about or want to protect and if you are on twitter, hashtag it #speciesday. We look forward to hearing about them. (Also- be sure to join the fun even if you aren’t in the US! We would love to hear from you too)

If you are on Twitter, help us spread the word! Copy and paste this into your “tweet” window:

I’m tweeting for (Enter your species here) with @NWF in honor of Endangered Species Day! #speciesday

Happy Endangered Species Day!