From the year 2008 the RhWR has been continuously working with Habitat Partners around the State of Minnesota and western Wisconsin as well as conducting presentations and leading hikes featuring RHWOs.

In 2017 and 2018, Dr. Elena West, a new PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was contracted by the Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery to conduct specific research work on RHWOs at Cedar Creek. Dr. West has continued her work on RHWOs, substantially aided by RhWR through funding equipment purchases and funding summer field technicians over 2017 – 2025.

In 2018 RhWR volunteer Jim Howitz initiated a study of acorn production at Cedar Creek ESR to determine if there is a correlation between RHWO overwintering on site or migrating and the amount of acorns produced by local oak trees. This continued for eight years. In 2019 and 2020 the RhWR and volunteer Siah St. Clair purchased 9 special cameras, and St. Clair placed them within three feet of active RHWO nests at Cedar Creek ESR to determine interactions taking place at RHWO nests with the cameras working continuously for six years.

In 2019 Dr. West obtained a Legislative – Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) grant to study factors that would allow drafting Best Management Practices (BMP) to aid in the recovery of Red-headed Woodpeckers. The RhWR provided the Community Partner portion of this grant. The RhWR will be publicizing the results once they are published. The RhWR provided the Community Partner portion of a second LCCMR grant in 2021 to use Bioacoustics to monitor the population of RHWOs in Minnesota. In 2023 a three year study of roosting sites of RHWO’s began at CCESR with field work funded substantially by the RhWR. Nest monitoring studies have continued with RhWR funding research technicians and with our volunteers.

The history of the Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery (RhWR) is compiled below. It is divided into three different time periods. The first period is 2008 to 2011 and describes the period the RhWR began studies at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR) and initiated Habitat Partner activities. The second period (2012 – 2016) is when RhWR began specific research on RHWOs, including color banding RHWOs, and partnered with researchers from the University of Minnesota. The final period (2017 – 2025) is when researcher Dr. Elena West was initially contracted by the RhWR to study RHWOs at CCESR. RhWR was also involved in other research activites during this time.