In response to my recent postings on wild bird sightings, I’ve been invited to write a monthly column in the Highland Park Community Newsletter. Send your observations regarding unusual birds and other aspects of the “wild side” of Highland Park to this e-mail—I’ll edit and compile them for the monthly Newsletter. This will include the photos of birds that many of you have been asking for. Your own photos would also be most welcome. No names or yard locations will be given without your approval. More timely bits of information will be posted on the Highland Park ListServ. Speaking of which… • There have been more sightings of large Pileated Woodpeckers near the park. MR had one hanging from her feeder recently. PG had one fly over her head near the tennis courts on Stanton Ave. Maybe there’s a nest nearby. These are huge birds, some over 19 inches long, and are akin to the possibly extinct “Ivory-Billed”—the holy grail for serious birders. • PG also observed a Great Blue Heron at Carnegie Lake, on the far side of the Park. • Several people have reported seeing “Red-Bellied Woodpeckers.” I had always thought these were Red-Headed Woodpeckers, but the latter have a head that is fully red. The Red-Bellied just has red on the back and top (males only.) Strangely, it does NOT have a red belly!—only a slight blush. Its key identifying feature is zebra striping on its back like a Flicker. To confuse matters further, the male Hairy Woodpecker and smaller Downy Woodpecker also have patches of red on the backs of their heads. These two are the only woodpeckers with white on their backs. Their names refer to the texture of their feathers, but this isn’t very helpful for field identification. • Can anyone provide information on the hawks of Highland Park?—which are common, which are rare, and what to look for to identify them. Thanks, Richard Ref: Roger Tory Peterson, A Field Guide to the Birds East of the Rockies, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1980