Hi Tweeters,

As some of you know, I have been studying the reproductive biology of White-headed Woodpeckers (WHWO) in Yakima County for the last 9 years and still ongoing. This year, I am teaming with a phd student, Teresa Lorenz from the University of Idaho, on a project to colorband and affix radio transmitters to WHWO in the areas of the Nile, Wenas, Rimrock, and Bethel Ridge (as well as Leavenworth). Teresa is studying the homerange size of WHWO and also longevity and dispersal using colorbands. We have banded adults and some nestlings in each of these areas and one of each pair has a radio transmitter. We are asking birdwatchers (or anyone!) to please report colorbanded birds to Teresa and I (e-mail addresses below). Each bird has two color bands on one leg and one colorband and one metal band on the other leg. When reporting the colors, please report them in the order of Upper Right (UR), Lower Right (LR), Upper Left (UL), and Lower Left (LL). Also, right and left are the birds proper right and left leg (imagine yourself as the bird and your arms as their legs). Getting the order and colors correct is paramount to successful observations. The colors we used are pink (P), mauve (M), yellow (Y), red (R), orange (O), and green (G). Please denote the metal band as "X" instead of "M" which would be confused with mauve.

If you have access to a GPS, please denote the location and report the coordinates. If not, please give as accurate a description as possible of where you observed the bird and the date and the confidence of your observations of colors...even if it is only one leg. This information will be vital, especially for nestlings that Teresa has banded as we don't know where those birds will end up.

Teresa's study will be going on until 2013 I believe and I plan on colorbanding birds in my historical study areas even after Teresa's study is finished. So, please save this e-mail in case you see a colorbanded WHWO in later years....or just post to Tweeters as I am a subscriber.

My e-mail is kozj at yakamafish-nsn.gov or jcr_5015 at charter dot net

Teresa can be reached at lore5748 at vandals.uidaho.edu

Thank you for your time and your assitance with this important project! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us directly.

Good birding,

Jeff Kozma

Yakima