Ornithological Ninjas Infiltrate the Woods

Following are excerpts from Joseph McClain's 10/29/2015 article on William & Mary's website.  I share it as an update to my post last week.

Article's opening paragraph:

It was a stealth operation. A group of highly trained specialists infiltrated the area at dark, quietly deploying a range of technical apparatus to neutralize and secure eight carefully selected individuals, then whisking their captives miles away to a set of safe houses.

Closing paragraph - keeps things in perspective:  

Watts explained that the establishment of a second population of Virginia’s red-cockaded woodpeckers has been a goal of several conservation groups for a decade. But, he said, the yardstick of the success of Operation Woodpecker will be in the reproduction.

“It’s a milestone,” Watts said. “But we need to keep in mind the distinction between introducing birds, like we did last week, versus birds establishing a population, which we won’t know until we see breeding in the spring.”

Rest of the article:  https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2015/ornithological-ninjas-infiltrate-the-woods-on-behalf-of-endangered-woodpeckers.php