Acorn Woodpecker by Doug Greenberg

The homeowners group of Rossmoor, a community located just east of San Francisco, has rejected help from Audubon California and decided to go forward with the plan to shoot 50 Acorn Woodpeckers to prevent them from drilling holes in their homes.

“We’re incredibly disappointed that the boards of the Rossmoor homeowner groups have elected to proceed with this utterly pointless exercise,” said Graham Chisholm, director of conservation for Audubon California. “We’ve offered them substantial assistance if they promise to call off the shooting, but apparently they’ve elected to choose this strategy that is certain to fail.”

In this day and age, I simply cannot comprehend that an entire community would want to kill a bird without exhausting all other options.

“At this point, we’re calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revoke the permit they’ve issued to the Rossmoor groups,” said Chisholm. “It’s obvious to everyone now that the permit was issued using faulty assumptions and that it is biologically flawed as it relates to the Rossmoor situation. Moreover, the homeowners clearly have not tried every non-lethal remedy, as their permit requires.”

Hopefully, this plan to kill 50 Acorn Woodpeckers never happens. It’s just plain wrong. Besides, it’s not even a permanent solution.

“Experts have told us clearly that in rich habitat such as where these developments are located, there is always an abundance of mating pairs looking for openings to establish themselves,” said Mt. Diablo Audubon Society President Jimm Edgar. “What this means is that if you shoot 50 Acorn Woodpeckers, you’ll probably see 50 new ones take their place within an hour.”

I really want to commend Audubon California for their prompt action on this issue which started back in November of 2008. This is exactly why it is important to support organizations like this with your time or money if possible.

Rossmoor’s Chief Executive Officer’s phone number: 925-988-7712
Rossmoor email: info@rossmoor.com
Rossmoors full Contact info

[Rossmoor group rejects Audubon assistance on woodpeckers, opts to go ahead with shooting]