A pair of pale-billed woodpeckers with red heads and black and white bodies. (Courtesy photo)
A pair of pale-billed woodpeckers with red heads and black and white bodies. (Courtesy photo)

Photographer and author Paul Bannick will deliver an illustrated public lecture on North American woodpeckers, one of the country’s most interesting and unique birds, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 31 in Fleischmann Auditorium at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH).

The event is presented by the Santa Barbara Audubon Society and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History SBMNH.

Back by popular demand following his outstanding presentation in May 2025 on North American Owls, celebrated bird photographer Paul Bannick’s new program will focus on the 41 woodpecker species of North America, organizers said.

Woodpeckers have evolved in ways that make them ecologically critical to forest health, serving as keystone species in a variety of wooded habitats across the continent, SBMNH said.

Their distinctive drumming sounds out a familiar rhythm, while their presence supports a myriad of birds and animals making them catalysts of diversity in the places they inhabit.

North American woodpeckers are, in many ways, the heartbeat of the forest, according to SBMNH.

Informed by his own experiences in the field as well as extensive research, Bannick will present woodpeckers in every season: their courtship and nest selection in spring; life in the nest during summer; fledging and gaining independence in autumn; and the challenges of surviving the winter.

Bannick will also take a close look at the most important woodpecker habitats in North America and what we can do to protect them.

Bannick is an award-winning author and wildlife photographer specializing in the natural history of North America with a focus on birds and habitat.

He is the author of three books including “The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters with North America’s Most Iconic Birds.”

His work can be found prominently in bird guides from Audubon, Peterson, The Smithsonian, Stokes, the National Wildlife Federation and in several volumes of the “The Handbook of the Birds of the World.”

This lecture is open to all. Advance ticket purchase is recommended. General admission tickets are $5 and available in advance on the SBMNH website and will be available for purchase at the door the night of the event, if still available.

General admission tickets are $5 and are available in advance on the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s website and will be available for purchase at the door the night of the event, if still available.

Visit https://tickets.sbnature.org/events/019aad47-35ff-d360-15b8-41497ec965fe.

Courtesy of Chaucer’s Bookstore, books by Bannick will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

For more, call the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, 805-964-1468.