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Emily Wang, Randall Carter School

Passaic County

Image of Red-headed Woodpecker. Passaic County.Red-headed Woodpecker. Passaic County. Emily Wang

Red-headed Woodpecker

“Qweer Qweer Qweer!” Calling out to all people! I hope my qweer is loud enough for you to hear, because today I have a request for you! Our species is in pain and danger! My name is Kathy, or Melanerpes erythrocephalus, as I am known to scientists, but right now, I desperately need your help! My friend Zippers loves to catch the news, and he just tweeted that we were on the threatened list! Please help us!

We are very easy to spot! Our heads are fully red. I am a female, so my head, and the rest of the girls, have a bit of brown. Our bellies are white, and we have black wings with white tips on them. I live in Passaic County in New Jersey, but my cousins settled in other states in the U.S. We nest around dead or dying trees in wetland forested areas and open upland. You think gray, rotten trees are disturbing? We need those dead limbs and crooked branches!

Do you know why we are threatened? People kill us for our feathers! Do you really need our feathers for fancy hats? How would you like it if some random person just killed you for your clothes? Dead trees are being chopped down. Yes, they look ugly, but those are our homes for nesting. Don’t kill us because we are eating your fruit and vegetables! We need food and nutrients to live! Help us by putting up bird feeders, stop making hats with real feathers, and stop cutting down dead trees!

You’ve heard my qweer, and as I asked from the start, please help us! We might become extinct, and then you’ll never know us! Spread the news! We don’t want to worry that our homes might be crushed! Save the Red-headed Woodpeckers!

Written by: Emily Wang

Randall Carter School, Wayne

Teachers: Mrs. Lucci and Mrs. Scola