Inhabitants and scientists of Sierra del Rosario, in Pinar del Rio province, work together to preserve a curious exponent of woodpecker, currently scarce in other regions of the country.

It is an endemic sub-specie of the island, commonly known as Escapulario, and is protected by the ecologic station of the biosphere reserve located in that mountain range, a region with a very vast biodiversity, worthy of having achieved that category since 1985.

The program includes fields monitoring, care of the nests and the preparation of campaigns intended to avoid hunting, facts very much appreciated specially by children, outstanding participants of these actions.

The Escapulario is scientifically named COLAPTES AURATUS CHRYSOCAULOSUS, but the popular name is due to the black patch on the breast, larger spots below and a more golden yellow color under the wings and tail.

This bird nests in spring time in the holes they make with their beaks, so there they find insects and other organisms as food.

There are 350 woodpecker species around the planet; 12 out of them inhabit in the Antilles and six in Cuba, where the the duet science-community is summoned to take care of a fauna unable to cause human death.

While it is true that Australia, Madagascar and certain islands of Polinesia dont have these birds, the typical noise of their habit of drilling trunks makes them an easy prey for hunters, as it is the main cause for the shortage of some representatives such as the Escapulario.

(Guerrillero.cu)