For the first time, a red-billed white-backed woodpecker was recorded in Khmelnytskyi

White-backed woodpecker

Wikipedia

A white-backed woodpecker was recorded for the first time in the Khmelnytskyi region, on the territory of the Male Polissya National Nature Park, which is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.

Ornithologists found two birds by their singing, informs “Khmelnytskyi Society”.

According to Natalia Kratasyuk, a park employee, the birds were discovered during a systematic study of the avifauna. This is a kind of “inventory” of birds, which is necessary to identify typical and rare species in order to monitor them in the future.

Currently, the park is home to various species of woodpeckers, including gray, green and black woodpeckers, large, medium and three-toed woodpeckers. However, the white-backed woodpecker is very rare.

“During the 10 years of the park’s existence and long before its creation, when research was conducted on what fauna is found in the area, it was not recorded. This time it was possible to notice this species for the first time in two locations. Usually, like most woodpeckers, it is looking for larvae and insects in the bark of trees” Nataliya Kratasiuk said.

She added that the birds were found by their singing. To confirm their conclusions, ornithologists observed them through binoculars.

As the employee of the park explained, the white-backed woodpecker usually lives north of the Khmelnytskyi region. Therefore, in the future, experts will establish whether the birds are nesting in the park or have flown here temporarily.

We will remind you that the national park “Tuzlivski lymani” became for the first time a wintering shelter for red-listed cormorants.