HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — It can be a tedious process, climbing 20 feet into the air with loads of equipment all to put man-made woodpecker houses in a tree. 

But experts say it's crucial so the red-cockaded woodpecker sticks around.  

"Because it takes so long for them to make their own cavities, we get them on the landscape by providing them some habitat," Florida Fish and Wildlife Biologist John Hoch said. 

The man-made woodpecker houses, or inserts, are used by the red cockaded woodpecker as a home and they can live in them for several years. 

These new ones will soon be home to the 43rd cluster, or woodpecker family group, in the Croom tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest. 

That's nearly eight times the amount of family clusters they had in Croom when this initiative started about 20 years ago. 

"Providing them this initial foothold on the landscape is crucial for building these populations," Hoch said. 

And Hoch said these woodpeckers are essential for the environment here too. 

"They are a keystone species that provides habitats that are then used by many other species," he explained.

"They're an iconic species for the southeast too. They're endemic to the southeast," he added. 

In a few months the team that installed the inserts will be back to check on these new inserts to see just how many birds have started to call them home.