It is time. Time to get to know your peckers that is! Learn more about 5 of the most common woodpeckers in the United States. 🧵⤵️

📷 USFWS Bigger isn’t necessarily better, but we have to start somewhere. The pileated woodpecker is North America’s largest woodpecker measuring up to 19.3 in with a wingspan up to 29.5 in. These woodpeckers are huge!

📷 Mick Thompson/CC BY-NC 2.0 flic.kr/p/AyrpSu

Is that hogweed, hemlock or parsnip? Contact or consumption of some of these may cause unpleasant, potentially deadly, reactions. Most of these plants are invasive and easily grow in ditches across the country. Get familiar to stay safe! fws.gov/story/dont-tou… Giant hogweed is invasive in North America. Contact with giant hogweed may cause severe irritation to the skin and eyes, blistering rashes, permanent scarring and even blindness. This plant reaches heights of 6-18 ft.

📷 courtesy of debs-eye/CC BY 2.0 flic.kr/p/6wW7zH

If birds had job titles, what would they be? 🤔

Would you consider yourself more of a branch manager, seed dispersal technician, pest excavation specialist, resident bridge inspector or music composer? ⤵️ Bald eagle: Branch manager

Bald eagles construct some massive nests, typically measure 5-6 feet wide and 2-4 feet tall, but some get even bigger! The largest recorded nest was 10 feet wide and 20 feet tall!

📷 courtesy of Nicole Beaulac/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 flic.kr/p/GjVjmz

The ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora) is not a smoking utensil used by spooky spirits. It's actually a really cool native plant found throughout most of the country. 🧵 Don't be fooled. The ghost pipe is not a fungus. Sure, it lacks chlorophyll and every time if steps into a bar it shouts "I'm a fun guy," but that's just ghost pipe trying to be funny. This mushroomy looking plant isn't dependent on light for photosynthesis. 2/5

Where did all the fireflies glow?

We hear it in our comments - hey, why don't I see that many lightning bugs anymore? The simple answer is, because there aren't as many as there used to be. But why? Before we answer that, you need to know how this beetle starts out life. 🧵 Fireflies lay their eggs in the ground where they then mature into glow worms. It's during this larval stage where they spend all their time eating other, tinier insects. Born and raised in the duff, they need the leaves that naturally litter the ground. 2/5

New Bipartisan Infrastructure Law National Fish Passage Program projects have just been announced, and they’re supporting migrating fish, addressing climate resilience, and strengthening local economies! 🧵 “This year’s $70 million investment will have tremendous impacts, not only in restoring fragmented aquatic habitats but in revitalizing communities across the nation,” said @USFWS Director Martha Williams. 2/5

New Release: fws.gov/story/2024-04/…

Mussels vs. No Mussels

Wanna see some heavy lifting? After just 30 minutes, this two-tank demonstration shows the incredible filtration capacity of freshwater mussels. A single freshwater mussel can filter 5-10 gallons of water every day! 💪🏽 Note from the photographer about the mussel tank image: The mussel tank has an oxygenator or bubbler. Live mussels need higher O2, as opposed to the tank that has no live mussels. The bubbler is not a filter. The filtering is done 100% by the mussels.

We're celebrating BFFs today... black-footed ferrets. These hotdog-shaped mustelids were declared extinct in 1979. Just two years later, a small population was discovered along the banks of the Greybull River in Wyoming. #ESA50 With the help of a captive breeding program and protections from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the black-footed ferret is making a comeback. Happy anniversary to the rediscovery of the BFF. #ESA50

You are watching a lake sturgeon spawning event 25 years in the making!

Why this is such a big deal? Well, grab a mug of tea and your coziest blanket, because we have a feel good conservation story for you. 1/6 Between 1880 and 1930, lake sturgeon were driven to extinction in Minnesota’s Red River Basin and many other watersheds. Sturgeon are migratory fish with long lives and extremely slow reproductive cycles, making them highly vulnerable to overfishing and habitat fragmentation. 2/6

Congratulations to James Hautman of Chaska, Minnesota - winner of the 2021 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest with his acrylic painting of a pair of redheads floating in the water!

More: ow.ly/qwWN50GhhPF

🎨: © USFWS Hautman's winning painting will be made into the 2022-2023 Duck Stamp, which will go on sale in late June 2022.

Wildlife face many threats worldwide. Our International Affairs program has been working with partners for 30+ years to help protect imperiled wildlife such as rhinos, elephants, tigers, great apes, sea turtles, & many lesser-known species.

📷: Sumatran rhino by Matt Muir/USFWS A new approach called “Green Status of Species” may help us & others measure progress & what’s working. It could inform our grant-making process to ensure conservation funding achieves the highest return on investment: ow.ly/ULMc50Ggtkg

📷: Tiger by Frank Kohn/USFWS

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! 🎉 Join us in celebrating & recognizing Hispanic communities’ unique contributions to American history, culture, & conservation!

📷: Monarch butterfly on swamp milkweed by Jim Hudgins/USFWS For instance, discover the Latino legacy of California’s Salinas Valley: ow.ly/PQhb50GaM0N

#HispanicHeritageMonth

📷: Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge in California by Ivette López/USFWS

Biologists use many tools in the field, including camera traps set up inside of buckets to detect snakes. It's always exciting to see what wandered through and the variety may surprise you! 📷: Weasel, raccoon, painted turtle, watersnake. 📷: Two Dekay's brown snakes, star-nosed mole, rabbit, racer snake.