THE RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology is asking for birdwatchers in Lancashire to be on the lookout for lesser spotted woodpeckers.
The appeal has been launched after sightings of the birds have been rapidly declining. Populations of the woodland bird, a close relative of the great spotted woodpecker, have fallen by more than three quarters in the last three decades and in some areas the bird is now only rarely seen.
Eagle-eyed people across Lancashire are being asked to help by logging on to www.birdtrack.net if they have spotted any lesser spotted woodpeckers.
