Dana Bradshaw began work with the red-cockaded woodpecker in the fall of 1980 as a graduate student working under Mitchell Byrd in the biology department at the College of William and Mary. Having grown up in the heart of the species range in Virginia, Dana would bring a wealth of experience and a unique perspective to the work. The woodpecker had been classified as federally endangered and Virginia represented the northern edge of the species’ range. His thesis focused on foraging and home range requirements, topics that would later inform critical components of the state’s recovery strategy. But Dana’s enthusiasm for the woodpecker and commitment to its recovery would not end with his graduate work.
Dana Bradshaw with a brood of woodpeckers within the Piney Grove Preserve. Photo by Bryan Watts.
Dana would move on from graduate work to become the first biologist within the newly formed non-game program within the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. Among other responsibilities, Dana would oversee red-cockaded woodpecker monitoring and management. He would later leave the agency to become a biologist and then a research associate within CCB. Despite working with many species and in many capacities, Dana continues to be one of the most consistent and knowledgeable voices for woodpecker recovery in Virginia.
Brood of red-cockaded woodpeckers within Piney Grove Preserve. Photo by Bryan Watts.
Recently, in recognition of 35 years of commitment to the recovery of the red-cockaded woodpecker, CCB presented Dana with a framed photo. The photo, taken by John DiGiorgio within The Nature Conservancy’s Piney Grove Preserve, depicts a milestone event within the decades-long effort to recover the Virginia population. The bird, a female from North Carolina, was the first to breed in the state after having been brought in from another population. The translocation program was a successful management strategy that helped to reverse the population decline.
Dana Bradshaw holds framed red-cockaded woodpecker photo within the Paul Baker Library at CCB. Photo by Bryan Watts.
Written by Bryan Watts | bdwatt@wm.edu | (757) 221-2247
September 11, 2015
Project Page:
Red-cockaded woodpecker population monitoring and management in Virginia
News Stories:
7/7/2015 Virginia Red-cockaded Woodpeckers finish season by fledging 21 young birds
1/12/2015 Virginia Red-cockaded Woodpeckers Continue to Surpass Expectations
A bald eagle nest just off the Poropotank River in Virginia in 2003. A nest with two equal young and ample food was a normal scene during this time period. This reflects a golden period during the late 1990s and early 2000s when males had more leisure time to hunt and provide for broods. Photo by Catherine Markham.
Breeding female on the Eltham Bridge. This female was hatched on Elkins Marsh along the seaside of the Delmarva in 2010 and has held the territory on the Eltham Bridge since 2013 with three successive males. She has been very aggressive and protective of the nest site and has held the territory together. She was found with a wing injury from a collision in December and could not be rehabilitated. She is one of a number of falcons that have been documented to go down in 2022. Photo by Bryan Watts.