INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO): Twelve animal species that call the Midwest home are being championed by Chicago Wilderness, which is made up of more than 200 conservation groups in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Scientists, educators and ecologists spent months deciding which would be added to the list.

Suzanne Malec-McKenna, director of Chicago Wilderness, says the group selected species that are rare or threatened and would benefit by some extra attention. Now a five-year plan will be put together. She says one example is the red-headed woodpecker.

“Conservancy Indiana and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore are signing on as the Indiana leader to look at oak ecosystems, and the red-headed woodpecker has declined dramatically and requires healthy oak woodlands for it to continue to survive,” she states.

Other species on the list include the blue-spotted salamander, the bobolink, Henslow’s sparrow, the little brown bat and the smooth green snake.