Writing about Starlings, Dennis Paulson said,

> Don, I would
> have proposed that Lewis' Woodpecker disappeared from western WA for the
> same reason that bluebirds did, the growing up of logged areas and the
> disappearance of snag-filled open woodland. Most of the birds of semiopen
> country in western WA (including the woodpecker and the bluebird)
> disappeared *before* starlings made it out here in any numbers . . .

Bent, in Life Histories of Woodpeckers, notes that Lewis's Woodpeckers
favor old burns: "In Western Washington this woodpecker nests in June.
Almost invariably the excavation for its nesting place is in a dead tree,
the trunk of which is more or less blackened by fire, and this may be one
reason why the bird is partial to the old burns." Did Smokey the Bear,
along with clearcutting, do in the western Lewis's? But why are they so
abundant at a place like Fort Simcoe State Park, where there are no burns
and, as I recall, very few snags? (And, incidentally, there are
probably quite a few Starlings in the area, too.)

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794